German police arrested several protesters at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin on Saturday, forcing them to stop playing music and chanting slogans against the Israeli occupation, Al Mayadeen reported.
Law enforcement officers, dressed in anti-riot gear, disrupted a rally of hundreds near Wittenbergplatz metro station, where demonstrators had gathered to express solidarity with Palestinians under the slogan “Stop the aggression in the West Bank—Do not supply weapons to Israel.”
Protesters played music and chanted slogans in Arabic critical of the Israeli regime, with some delivering speeches in Arabic while voicing opposition to the Israeli occupation and the US. Police ordered the music to be stopped and demanded that demonstrators vacate the square.
Many attendees carried Palestinian flags and signs reading “Hands off the West Bank,” “Stop arming Israel,” “Gaza is not for sale,” “Freedom for Palestine,” and “Palestinian children deserve to grow up.”
With nearly 250 officers deployed, police moved against the demonstrators after dozens defied orders to leave and staged a sit-in. Several protesters were arrested in what witnesses described as a heavy-handed crackdown.
Meanwhile, a group of prominent German scholars have criticized lawmakers for what they see as a shift toward authoritarianism. Professor Michael Zürn from the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB) warned that a controversial antisemitism resolution passed by the Bundestag could suppress academic freedom and stifle criticism of Israeli policies. Professor Ralf Michaels of the Max Planck Institute also condemned political pressure against free expression in Germany.
Legal experts and civil rights advocates have repeatedly urged lawmakers to pass legislation safeguarding free discourse and curbing police crackdowns on peaceful protesters.
MNA
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