Germany suppresses pro-Palestine protests marking Nakba Day
Occupied Palestine (QNN) – German police have responded forcefully to Palestinians and their supporters when they took to the streets in Berlin to mark the Nakba Day, Human Rights Watch said.
The Human rights Watch added that the police in Berlin shoved and dragged several demonstrators, and detained scores for up to two hours.
The Berlin police banned several Nakba Day protests planned for May 13-15, citing alleged ties between demonstrations and Palestinian political movements that are on the European Union’s list of ‘terrorist’ groups, the Human Rights Watch indicated.
“International human rights law permits restrictions on the rights to free assembly, association, and expression, but restrictions should be necessary and proportionate,” it said.
It pointed out that a preemptive ban on commemorating an event is an extreme restriction that effectively works as a collective punishment on those who wish to peacefully assemble, based on speculation over potential unlawful acts of a minority.
Citing anti-Semitic incidents, the Berlin administrative court endorsed the ban imposed by police, a court official told the German Press Agency.
In turn, Palestinian civic leaders in Berlin have repeatedly stated that they do not condone anti-Semitic slurs at demonstrations, asserting that their only goal is to draw attention to “Israel’s” ongoing repression in occupied Palestine.
