Anti-imperialist demonstration in Berlin: glorification of terror on the streets

More people than expected came to the “Down with colonialism!” demonstration on the evening of the anniversary of the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023. Instead of the 150 registered participants, according to the police, there were 700 people who followed the call from left-wing anti-imperialist groups. At 7 p.m. the demonstration set off from Oranienplatz.

There are no speeches, and no one wanted to talk to the taz. The chants and banners leave no doubt as to how people here imagine the liberation of Palestine. “All oppressed people have the right to violence,” says a banner held up by young activists from communist youth groups. Other banners contain slogans such as “Death to Zionism” and “Glory to the resistance.” A red triangle, a symbol often used by Hamas, was also visible on banners. A woman held up a sign that read, “Israel has the right to go fuck itself.”

The mobilization had already made it clear in advance of the demonstration that the Hamas massacres of October 7, 2023 should be celebrated and celebrated here. In the attack by Hamas and other groups, 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians, and 250 people were kidnapped. The events were the starting point for Israel's brutal war in Gaza, which is considered a genocide by human rights organizations and a commission of inquiry by the UN Human Rights Council.

The call said, for example, that October 7th was a “beacon of steadfastness”. Other texts on social media said that “a blow to the heart of the settler-colonial project” had been dealt that day. The “myth of Zionism’s invincibility” collapsed. The police are investigating allegations of glorification of violence.

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg also appeared at the opening rally. She allowed herself to be photographed briefly by a photographer who was apparently from the demo environment, then she disappeared into the crowd. From there, a group of men set the pace for interrupted chants. "Death to Israel", "Glory to the resistance", "Child murderer, woman murderer Israel" and "What solution? Intifada revolution" echoed across the street at deafening volume during the demonstration. “Israel is burning children, Germany is behind it” was also chanted.

Israel's right to exist is not the only thing being denied at the opening rally. Not far from the self-proclaimed anti-imperialists there are two fully masked people holding up a “Free Narnia” sign. Should this be understood as a denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination? “That’s a good summary,” says one of the two, who claims the action was seen as “satire”. He doesn't want to say anything more to the press. Also next to the demo, but at a separate counter-rally, there are also a handful of people holding up flags of the Israeli state, the Iranian Shah regime and a poster of the FDP politician Karoline Preißler. But no one here wants to talk to the taz either. “Not after this shit you write,” says one woman.

The demonstration was met with rejection in the left-wing scene. “To hold such an event on the anniversary of the Hamas attack and the killing, rape and kidnapping of civilians is wrong and lacks any moral and political compass,” explained the neighborhood initiative Wrangelkiez United. While it is “legitimate, right and necessary” to take to the streets against “expulsion, occupation, racism, apartheid and genocide,” “central emancipatory principles such as the “rejection of sexualized violence and the rejection of religious fundamentalism as well as the rejection of the killing and kidnapping of civilians” should not simply be thrown overboard, the group said.

In the side streets next to the demonstration there are always counter-protesters holding up Israeli flags. “Shut up – against anti-Semitic terror and hatred of Israel,” reads one of their banners. An older man with a yarmulke told the taz: “This shameful thing is happening for the second time” – left-wing groups had already taken to the streets on that day last year. He often goes to such counter-protests, he says, and he experiences a lot there. "But this is particularly violent. I used to think I was on the left, but with these people I don't know anymore," he says.

Surprisingly, the police let the rally go on undisturbed for quite a long time. The police only stopped the train at Kottbusser Tor, allegedly because the banners were tied up. She then arrests two protesters whom she accuses of attacking police officers. For a moment it becomes tumultuous. Soon afterwards, however, the situation calmed down and the thundering of the drums and the chants of “Viva, viva Palestine” continue. The demo has not yet reached its end point at Hermannplatz.