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Germany police interrupt and shut down pro-Palestine event – JURIST

The Berlin Police interrupted a pro-Palestinian event Friday and issued a ban to prevent the group from meeting again on Saturday or Sunday after the group allowed someone to speak who had been previously banned from political activities for allegedly making anti-semitic remarks.The speaker in question, Salman Abu Sitta, had been issued a “ban on political activities,” and the police stated that they stopped the event and issued the ban out of concern that Sitta would make anti-semitic or violent statements.Sitta is a Palestinian researcher who has previously stated that “Israel was created on a land it does not own,” and the “key to peace” is the return of the refugees to Palestine. Sitta has also called the current conflict “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide.”The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Homeland also encouraged the interruption by the police, stating that it supports crackdowns on the Palestinian Congress and is monitoring “Islamist” activities in the country. The Ministry went on to state that anyone who shares “Islamist propaganda” and anti-semitism will be prosecuted.Germany has been a strong supporter of Israel ever since the current conflict in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, and has been strongly criticized by pro-Palestinian organizations. Last week, seven German human rights lawyers filed a motion in Berlin’s Administrative Court to halt arms export to Israel. A criminal lawsuit has also been put forward by Palestinian NGOs against German officials “for the crime of aiding and abetting genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza by providing Israel with weapons and issuing related export permissions.”