After a rally in Essen on Friday evening with around 3,000 people that was registered as a pro-Palestine demonstration, investigators are examining the event for criminal relevance. The rally also featured banners with Islamist content and in Arabic, including calls for the establishment of a caliphate. Participants also showed the raised index finger, which is considered a gesture of radical Islamists.
It turned out that the pro-Palestine theme was a pretext for the rally, said a police spokesman. The aim was to hold a religious event on the streets of Essen. During the rally, the police did not find any criminal violations in chants, symbols and flags. The demonstration was registered by a private individual. “We will examine everything carefully afterwards,” said the spokesman. It will be examined together with the public prosecutor’s office whether there is any criminal relevance.
The demonstration was “very loud and very emotional, but peaceful,” the police said after the demonstration ended on Friday. The police had issued a number of conditions and accompanied the demonstration with a large contingent.
Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin
There will be a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin this Saturday under strict conditions. According to the police, any statements that are anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and that glorify violence or terror are prohibited. Operations manager Stephan Katte emphasized in advance that anyone who denies Israel’s right to exist is committing a crime that will be punished immediately. “Repeated commission of such crimes can lead to the dissolution of a meeting very early on,” Katte told the German Press Agency.
Several pro-Palestinian groups have called for the protest march. “Many from the left-wing political spectrum who have already called for the “revolutionary May 1st demonstration” this year also mobilized,” according to the police. According to the police, the organizers said around 2,000 participants were expected. The police assume a “five-digit number”. Individual “violent people or small groups” are to be expected. However, the police assume that participants generally “aim for peaceful meetings”.
Central Council of Muslims criticizes anti-Semitism at demonstrations
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany condemns anti-Semitic incidents at pro-Palestinian demonstrations and calls for caution when taking part in rallies. There are “very clear violations, anti-Semitic violations of hatred of Jews,” said Central Council Chairman Aiman Mazyek on Deutschlandfunk. “They must be punished.” He appeals to Muslims: “Be careful where you follow.” There are groups that use such demonstrations to chant slogans against Jews and anti-Semitism. “We don’t have to have it like that.”
In Frankfurt/Main on Friday, nine people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian rally followed by a demonstration. Among other things, investigations were initiated on suspicion of incitement to hatred, the use of unconstitutional license plates and suspicion of depicting violence, as the police announced in the evening. Up to 850 people took part in the demonstration under the motto “Ceasefire in Gaza”.
On October 7, Islamists from Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and other terrorists carried out a massacre of civilians in Israel. Since then, Israel’s army has been using air strikes and ground troops against targets in the sealed-off coastal area.
