Thousands demonstrated on Saturday in Berlin in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is suffering under continuous Israeli bombardment in response to the Hamas attack on October 7.
There was calm at the start of the gathering. Many families attended with their children, and raised banners reading: “Save Gaza,” “Stop the genocide,” and “Ceasefire.”
Many demonstrators wore the Palestinian keffiyeh. The demonstrators gathered in Alexanderplatz Square in central Berlin, shaded by Palestinian flags, and chanting, “Free Palestine.”
The demonstration was organized at the invitation of several associations supporting the Palestinians, under the slogan “Defending basic democratic rights: freedom of expression also for Palestinians.”
The organizers expected the participation of about two thousand people, but the security forces estimated that the number could reach ten thousand, and deployed about 1,400 policemen.
The police imposed strict restrictions, stressing that any "denying Israel's right to exist or expressing anti-Semitic positions that incite hatred and praise violence and terrorism" warrants criminal prosecution.
In recent weeks, many demonstrations in support of the Palestinians in Germany have witnessed sometimes violent confrontations between their participants and security forces.
The police expressed their fear of new tensions permeating Saturday's demonstration, especially after the authorities officially banned on Thursday all activities related to Hamas and the Samidoun Association, whose members are accused of publicly celebrating the attack by Hamas fighters on Israel on October 7, which left more than 1,400 dead. Dead.
In France, thousands of people participated in marches in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In the capital, Paris, the number of participants, according to the police, was approximately 19,000 demonstrators, waving Palestinian flags and some of them raising banners reading “Freedom for Palestine.”
Demonstrator Laila Al-Gharbi (46 years old) called for an “immediate ceasefire,” while her daughter Enas (21 years old) called for “the brutality to stop.” Kulthum Alloush (75 years old) said that she came “for the sake of the children of Gaza and Palestine.”
The police did not ban this demonstration, which was called for by associations, unions and political parties, but they reminded in advance that they would not tolerate “any transgression.”
About forty other gatherings were announced across France.
In Lyon in particular, a demonstration gathered under heavy rain about 5,000 people, according to the governorate, and the demonstrators marched behind a banner that read, “Lift the criminal siege on Gaza, freedom for Gaza.”
In Montpellier, southern France, a demonstration was held in which about 1,750 people participated, according to the governorate.
In Strasbourg, in the east of the country, according to police, 1,500 people participated in a march to the sound of chants against Israel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In the British capital, London, tens of thousands of demonstrators demanded a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, after the demonstrators gathered in the historic Trafalgar Square in London, in solidarity with Palestine and denouncing the Israeli war on Gaza.
The demonstrators chanted slogans criticizing British Home Secretary Suella Braverman's description of the demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine as "hate marches."
They also raised banners with phrases such as “Freedom for Palestine” written on them, calling on the British government to support the ceasefire demands.
In addition to the demonstrators, the former leader of the opposition Labor Party, Jeremy Corbyn, and a large number of parliamentarians and representatives of human rights organizations participated in the event.
