Germany’s Interior Ministry says pro-Palestinian voices can make themselves heard at demonstrations but described a “red line” around anti-Israeli incitement and extremist statements.
“In Germany, everyone is free to express their opinion and demonstrate peacefully,” said a spokeswoman in Berlin on Monday. “But the red line is: There is zero tolerance for anti-Semitic and anti-Israel incitement, there is zero tolerance for violence.”
She said that the rule of law must be enforced along that line with outright bans on assemblies when there is the threat of anti-Semitic incitement, along with police intervention at rallies when anti-Semitic incitement is seen.
“Tough police intervention is needed here,” she said.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Germany over the past month have provoked intense public debate in the country over incidents of hate speech with the country’s legal rights to assembly and free expression.
The leader of Germany’s GdP police union, meanwhile, demanded a more intense crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Germany, including an outright ban on all marches or large gatherings.
“These marches through German cities must no longer be allowed to happen,” GdP head Jochen Kopelke told Deutschlandfunk public radio on Monday. Demonstrators should instead be limited to smaller stationary rallies which would be more manageable for police, Kopelke said.
“Then people would be able to use their right to express their opinion and to freedom of assembly as they wish, but without these disgusting criminal acts and scandalous anti-Semitism,” Kopelke said.
The protests come amid intense Israeli bombardment and an ongoing ground campaign in Gaza, which followed deadly massacres perpetrated by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7.
Source: dpa
