Jewish organizations in Germany want ‘Al Quds march’ banned

For years, thousands of Palestine supporters have joined the annual ‘Al Quds March’ in Berlin. In 2020, the first Corona year, the rally was cancelled. This year, it is supposed to take place again, on May 8th at 2:30 p.m. in Berlins Charlottenburg borough.

According to the Berlin Police Department, the organizers expect 2,000 participants. Iran initiated the Al-Quds Day in 1979. It always was about “conquering Al-Quds (Jerusalem)”.

During ‘Al Quds March’ events that have taken place in Berlin since 1996, the protesters have chanted anti-Israeli slogans and vowed Israel would be annihilated. As far as the German authorities are concerned, Hezbollah is behind the ‘Al Quds March’.

Germany finally banned Hezbollah on April 30th, 2020, after the United States and Israel had called for a ban for many years. Exactly three months before the ban, to the day, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin had demanded this kind of step in a speech at the Berlin Bundestag.

Now, Jewish organizations are demanding a ban of the ‘Al Quds March’ as well. For the Central Council of Jews in Germany, its President Josef Schuster said it was “dominated by antisemitism and hatred towards Israel”. He stated the participants were exploiting Germany’s freedom of speech to spread their hatred.

“Under the pretext that they represent the interests of the Palestinians, they spread antisemitic conspiracy theories and demonstrate combat readiness against Israel and the West. The anti-Zionist hatred towards Israel is supposed to mobilize antisemites of all shades.”