People from all over Germany traveled to Stuttgart to demand freedom for the Ulm5, who had been imprisoned for over a year. The demonstration was also directed against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The police stopped the train several times, temporarily surrounded it and used pepper spray.

More than 2,000 people took to the streets in Stuttgart on Saturday to protest against theTrial against the Ulm5and to demonstrate the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The “Ulm5” are Crow, Daniel, Leandra, Vi and Zo: five Berlin activists who are said to have broken into the German headquarters of the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems in September 2025 and sabotaged it. They have been in custody since September 2025 and the trial against them in Stuttgart-Stammheim has been ongoing for more than six months. That's why the nationwide solidarity demonstration also took place in Stuttgart.

“The Ulm5 are not alone”: Nationwide solidarity demonstration on October 24th in Stuttgart

The demonstration under the motto “Free the Ulm 5” began with a rally on Schlossplatz, with a small feeder demonstration initially reaching the rally. The participants carried several Palestine flags and a banner with the call to “Take action together, against their wars” and repeatedly shouted “Stop the occupation, stop the murder!”

At the beginning of the rally, the mother of the defendant Zo Hailu and lawyers from Ulm5 spoke about the bitter reality of the inmates who are in solitary confinement. “It is not those who oppose genocide that should stand trial, but rather those who enable it, i.e. the German federal government and Elbit Systems Germany,” demanded the speakers on stage.

Some of the participants came to the demonstration from all over Germany. A demonstrator from Lübeck said: "The Ulm5 have been held in solitary confinement for over 365 days, and according to the UN Convention against Torture this is considered isolation torture. That's why I started the long journey to show: We as revolutionaries stand together as a movement."

International solidarity on the streets

The demo expressly called for people to bring Palestine flags and keffiyehs. However, it didn't stop there: the participants shouted "Hall international solidarity" and "uprising" in Arabic and Kurdish with the slogan "Palestine Kurdistan Intifada Serhildan." The international character of the demonstration was also visible on signs and banners that were spread throughout the procession.

At the front of the demonstration were the relatives and lawyers of Ulm5, accompanied by individual participants from the alliance that organizes solidarity work for Ulm5. Their banner bore the inscription: "Freedom for the Ulm5! Together against war, occupation and repression". The Shut Elbit Down initiative was also at the forefront with a banner. She had previously had one for a weekProtest campand demonstrations at the headquarters of Elbit Systems Germany in Ulm and now also made their solidarity with the Ulm5 practical in Stuttgart.

“We don’t want to be silent”: Protest camp against Israeli arms company Elbit in Ulm

Along the route, participants also took the opportunity to convey their anti-militarist positions to the population. They hung posters in public places with the words: "Sabotage instead of saluting! War against war."

Solidarity with all political prisoners

From the beginning, the participants in the demonstration showed solidarity with all political prisoners. In addition to the Ulm5, the case ofMaya- an anti-fascist non-binary person who is imprisoned under torture-like conditions for alleged attacks on neo-Nazis in Budapest. Another banner commemoratedDaniela Burdock. The entire demo chanted several slogans on the topic, including “We are not all, the prisoners are missing!”

The police repeatedly stopped the demonstration, attacked participants and provoked them. She pulled two people out of the demonstration. Even afterwards, the police harassed the demonstration, forcing it to stop and delaying progress on the route. Despite these disruptions, the Friends & Family bloc and the revolutionary bloc took their own initiative, setting off smoke bombs and fireworks again and again.

The demonstrators were not unsettled by the attempts at intimidation. Neighbors also expressed solidarity with the Ulm5 and joined in with slogans such as “Free Palastine” and “Free the Ulm5”. A resident hung his Palestine flag out of the window.

Loud cheers erupted from the participants as the train ran past the Züblin parking garage on Katharinenstrasse. It was enormous theregraffitiof the Solidarity Network Stuttgart and the International Youth Stuttgart, which was created the day before.

Self-determined and musical graduation despite attacks from the police

The demo was stopped for the last time on Eberhardstrasse: the police closed a tight circle around the participants, and for a short time it seemed as if everyone had to prepare for a long evening. However, after a second warning from the police loudspeaker car, the train was allowed to move on to Rotebühlplatz.

Various speakers from the alliance as well as Hebh Jamal, Palestinian journalist and activist, spoke there: “The genocide and the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank are not over!” she recalled in her speech.

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Afterwards there was a small concert by the rap crew RZ Rap. She also performed her song129, which fit thematically well: The Ulm5 are also charged under Section 129 of the Criminal Code, the formation of a criminal organization.

After the mini-concert, the organizers ended the demonstration. As the participants separated and went their separate ways, the police picked up individual people. A small scuffle broke out in which pepper spray was used. Shortly afterwards the crowd dispersed. An organizer expressed her disbelief at this police operation over the loudspeaker: “Beating and peppering the crowd now after the demonstration has been broken up shows once again that you are the cause of the escalation and not us!”

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