Activists of the Israeli government-designated terrorist NGO Samidoun chanted antisemitic and anti-Israeli slogans at the far-left “revolutionary May 1st demonstration,” according to a video taken at the rally published on Twitter by the German Jewish organization Jüdisches Forum (JFDA).
This comes in spite of a number of bans and limitations announced by the Berlin police before the rally, meant to prevent such chants from happening again.
In the video, the Samidoun activists can be heard shouting “Boycott Israel!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
“Boycott Israel!” & “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” Bei der “Revolutionären 1. Mai Demonstration” in #Berlin Neukölln skandiert der Block der Gruppierung Samidoun unwidersprochen antisemitische Parolen. #b0105 pic.twitter.com/UsViASOtI9
— Jüdisches Forum (JFDA e.V.) (@JFDA_eV) May 1, 2023
Berlin police announced bans
Berlin police confirmed that they had begun legal proceedings against the activists.
Two days before the demonstration, the police had published a number of regulations specifically for the upcoming rally “for reasons of public security.”
Police officers walk as demonstrators hold banners during a May Day protest in Berlin, Germany, May 1, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/CHRISTIAN MANG)These included a ban on burning items like puppets or flags; chants calling for violence or hate against religious or ethnic groups, which specifically outlawed calling for the destruction of Israel; and finally, showing the symbols or emblems of the PFLP, Hizb ut-Tahrir or Hamas terror organizations, including their affiliated groups.
The “revolutionary May 1st demonstration” ended early because of fears of violent clashes with the police forces at the end point of the rally, German newspaper Die Zeit reported. It was attended by 12,000 protesters, according to police estimates.
Germany’s Day of Work
Germany marks the “Day of Work” holiday every year on May 1st. On this date, left-wing organizations traditionally hold demonstrations in German cities, which can often turn violent.
On April 10, Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor slammed a rally of an estimated 500 Germans, most of whom were Muslims, which marched through two Berlin neighborhoods chanting “Death to Jews” and “Death to Israel.”
A few days after the incident, the Berlin police banned two additional protests planned by the Samidoun group.
Samidoun, is a Palestinian NGO that has been classified as a terrorist entity by Israel. According to Israel’s The National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), “The Samidoun organization was designated as a terrorist organization as it is part of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and was founded by members of the PFLP in 2012.”
The US and the EU proscribed the PFLP a foreign terrorist organization. In 2020, the Post exclusively reported that Berlin’s government imposed a four-year ban on Khaled Barakat, who the PFLP said was a “coordinator “ of Samidoun.
Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this story.
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