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Berlin: 174 arrested at unauthorized pro-Palestinian events

October 19, 2023

Clashes broke between police and protesters at an unauthorized demonstration in the Berlin district of Neukölln. At least 65 police officers were injured.

https://p.dw.com/p/4XjhN
Pyrotechnics being used at an unauthorized pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin
Dozens of police were injured responding to an unauthorized pro-Palestinian demonstration in BerlinImage: Paul Zinken/dpa7picture alliance

At least 174 people were arrested and 65 police officers were injured at unauthorized pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Berlin on Wednesday night, according to a police spokesperson.

Authorities had banned such protests, which have been called in response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, the militant group which killed around 1,400 Israelis in a terrorist attack two weeks ago.

Clashes broke out in the district of Neukölln between police and protesters who did not comply with orders to disperse.

Some attendees used pyrotechnics, set fire to barricades and pelted police with stones and bottles, law enforcement said.

According to police, several vehicles and a tree also caught fire during the incidnet. 

Police used water cannons, including to put out fires. The fire brigade also said it responded to several small fires.

A police water cannon in Berlin
Police used water cannons at the unauthorized pro-Palestinian demonstration in BerlinImage: Sven Käuler/dpa/picture alliance

What was the situation like in Berlin?

Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik told regional broadcaster RBB that the situation in Neukölln was "tense."

The incident comes after after two Molotov cocktails were thrown at a Jewish community center in Berlin in the early hours of Wednesday morning. 

Separately on Wednesday night, another gathering against violence in the Middle East was held outside the Foreign Office in Berlin. While 50 attendees had been registered, several hundred people showed up and the organizer subsequently called off the protest. 

Pro-Palestinian protests were also held in other German cities influding Frankfurt, where police used water cannons, and in Nuremberg.

Police broke up another pro-Palestinian protest in Berlin last weekend.

zc/wmr (dpa, AFP, epd)

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