Protests in Berlin and many major cities as October 7 nears

Police in Berlin said 500 officers were in action on Saturday amid a series of rival protests in the German capital, some showing support for Israel and others for Palestinians or Lebanese people.

Several participants at a demonstration in front of Humboldt University in the city center carried Israeli flags and signs and placards showing their support for Israel.

Nearby, a series of empty chairs bearing the photographs of people taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and still in captivity was on display, with the caption "kidnapped" written in German above each portrait.

Rival rallies in other parts of Berlin

In other parts of the city, around a thousand protesters called for a halt to fighting in Gaza and in Lebanon, many waving Palestinian flags and carrying banners, some accusing Israel of "genocide" in Gaza. 

At one point, scuffles broke out between police and pro-Palestinian protesters, news agencies reported.

Berlin police reported one case of people at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Kreuzberg district "repeatedly chanting forbidden slogans," which it said would be prosecuted.

The politician in charge of interior affairs in the city-state of Berlin, Senator Iris Spranger, told the dpa news agency that what German authorities deem antisemitic would be prosecuted by police in the coming days. More and larger events are expected on Sunday and Monday as the October 7 anniversary approaches. 

"My position is clear: Hatred, defamation and antisemitism do not belong on the streets of Berlin," Spranger told dpa while appealing to participants to "express their opinions, their personal concerns and their protests peacefully, respectfully and without violence." 

Jewish group official says October 7 an unsuitable date for pro-Palestinian protests

The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, said in a newspaper interview on Saturday that some recent pro-Palestinian demonstrations had been a "low point" for German society. 

He cited "the scenes of celebration on German streets after Iran's rocket attack against Israel" earlier this week, and "the calls for open protests of hate towards Israel around the anniversary" of Hamas's October 7 terror attack. 

Schuster told the RND network of newspapers that anyone who was unable on that anniversary "to feel at least a little empathy for Jewish people, for Israeli people, will never be able to do so — and that person has a serious problem."

Schuster said Germany's open society set up after World War II and the Holocaust in which the first article of the constitution begins, "Human dignity shall be inviolable," was at risk unless the rest of Germany recognized this problem. 

The German government's commissioner tasked with combating antisemitism, Felix Klein, said he was observing with alarm not just rapidly rising cases of antisemitic crimes in Germany, but also protests "where hatred of Israel and antisemitic positions are expressed." 

Meanwhile, the commissioner tasked with combating racism, Reem Alabali-Radovan, said it was not acceptable to place Palestinians or their supporters under general suspicion either.

She said that while antisemitism should not be tolerated at any protests, "There must also be a space for people, where they can point to the suffering of the people in Gaza or in the region."

Germany's government has also faced criticism for what some deem an overzealous attempt to police and regulate antisemitism, likely rooted at least in part in its 20th century history.

From Cape Town to Copenhagen — other demonstrations around the world

People also took to the streets in countries including Denmark, the UK, the Republic of Ireland, France, Switzerland and Italy on Saturday, mostly calling for a halt to fighting in Gaza and Lebanon.

In Rome, police fired tear gas and water cannons after clashes broke out. Around 6,000 protesters defied a ban to march in the city center. 

Some 40,000 people attended the "National March for Palestine" in central London, organizers said.

Police were on hand in numbers, after some demonstrators had said they planned to target businesses and institutions they deemed to support Israel in the city center, including the British Museum.

In London, counter-demonstrators waved Israeli flags as pro-Palestinian marchers walked by. There were 15 arrests on the sidelines of the protests, according to police, who did not specify whether those detained were from either group.

A simultaneous demo took place in the Republic of Ireland's capital, Dublin, with some calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden "war criminals." 

In Cape Town, protesters marched towards South Africa's parliament in a protest organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 

Similar demos took place in other major European cities including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Paris and Basel on Saturday.

mm, msh/sms (AFP, dpa, Reuters)