The massive demonstration at the Brandenburg Gate on Saturday reflects the growing rejection of Germany’s support for Israel.
On Saturday, 100,000 people joined the “Together for Gaza” demonstration in Berlin, filling the wide avenue between the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column. It was the biggest Palestine solidarity event that Germany has ever seen.
People had come by bus and train from across the country to speak up against the German government’s ongoing support for genocide. Some of the country’s biggest lefty hiphop acts like K.I.Z. and PTK performed onstage alongside speakers from the human rights organization Medico International and the Global Sumud Flotilla.
In polls, up to 80 percent of German citizens say they think Israel’s “military actions” are not justified, and that Germany should reduce or altogether stop weapons shipments to the country. Yet this large majority has almost no voice in mainstream politics, with virtually all politicians and journalists proclaiming their unshakeable support for Israel, even now. That, in the words of Angela Merkel and all of her successors, is German Staatsräson or “reason of state.”
Yesterday’s demonstration might have marked a Zeitenwende — a turning point from one era to the next. Now, in Germany, it might be possible for the massive disgust at Western support for Israel’s genocide to find expression on the streets. If there are enough people, no one can be singled out with slanderous accusations of antisemitism or horrific police violence.
The massive protest comes as Europe is seeing a resurgence of activity in solidarity with Palestine. The strikes in Italy, led by dockworkers in Genoa, are the most powerful expression.
Die Linke And The Movement
Berlin already saw a huge Gaza demonstration back in June with 50,000 people — but without many famous politicians, celebrities, or journalists. This time, major institutions that had largely stayed silent over two years of genocide joined the mobilizations, including Medico International, Amnesty International, and Germany’s left party Die Linke.
Historically, Die Linke had been part of the pro-Israel consensus of the German bourgeoisie, with old leaders like Bodo Ramelow and Petra Pau proudly doing Hasbara (propaganda) work. Less than a year ago, the party expelled German-Palestinian activist Ramsis Kilani.
Yet, with an influx of tens of thousands of young new members since the election, the party leadership of Ines Schwerdtner and Jan van Aken has been under growing pressure to do something, anything. They would prefer to keep the focus on cost of living issues and not talk about the war, but after delaying as long as they could, they had no other option but to call for this demonstration.
Schwerdtner explicitly defends “Israel’s right to exist,” but the Left Party could not control the tone of the demonstration. When Schwerdtner went up to give a speech, the crowd booed her and demanded an apology — and she admitted she had been silent for far too long. The next step would be to expel pro-genocide agitators like Ramelow.
The participation of a parliamentary party gave the whole thing an air of legitimacy. A number of unions were also represented — rank-and-file teachers as well as healthcare workers had gotten their unions, GEW and ver.di, to join the demonstrations. Reporting in the bourgeois press was notably less defamatory than it has been about other pro-Palestinian protests, allowing Palestinians, anti-Zionist Jews, and others to express their views.
While many activists were worried this would be a liberal demonstration, the mood was radical. As people heard about horrific police violence against a smaller pro-Palestine demonstration in a different part of the city, tens of thousands of people chanted: “All of Berlin hates the police.” At another point, the crowd proclaimed: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Berlin police regularly arrest people for this “illegal” slogan — even as courts rule, again and again, that it is actually legal — but there was nothing they could do with such masses.
Lies, Lies, Lies
The day before the demonstration, the right-wing newspaper Tagesspiegel ran with the headline: “Israelis not to speak at the rally.” This was an attempt to accuse the organizers of anti-Jewish prejudice. Almost immediately, the group Israelis for Peace corrected this false claim, explaining that they would be speaking from multiple trucks.
At the main rally, the 18-year-old Israeli trans communist Ella Greenberg received thunderous applause as she explained how she had been locked in solitary confinement for a month for her refusal to enlist in a genocidal army. She called on people to use strikes, blockades, and sanctions to stop the genocide. She was only one of numerous Jewish celebrities who co-organized the demonstration, including the violinist Michael Barenboim and the author Deborah Feldman.
A tiny pro-Israel counterprotest, supported by several leading members of Die Linke, rallied just 20 or so people, protected by rows of fences and numerous police. Bizarrely, they claimed they needed to protect the Herbert Baum Memorial. Herbert Baum was a Jewish communist who was executed by the Nazis in 1942 for organizing resistance activities — he did not support Zionism, and were he alive today, it seems likely he would be demonstrating for Gaza alongside all the other communist Jews.
Perspectives
If yesterday’s demonstration is to mark a real turning point, then it’s not enough for these 100,000 people to demonstrate on a weekend. We will need strikes and blockades like the ones that rocked Italy last week.
As Klasse Gegen Klasse (the sister publication of Left Voice) and Palestine Speaks Munich argue in a petition (also in English), the movement needs to aim for more dockworkers’ actions to block weapons headed for Gaza, and also for education strikes in schools and universities.
