Observations on the repression against the “Until total liberation” and “United for Palestine” demonstrations three years into the genocide in Palestine. Palestine at the Forefront participated in and mobilized for both demonstrations.
Three years ago, in October 2023 the Zionist State escalated its historical ambition of exterminating Palestinians once and for all. In Berlin, politicians and the police apparatus relentlessly sought to repress demonstrations in solidarity of Palestine, which were entirely banned at first, following two years of banning Nakba demonstrations in Berlin.
While seeking to silence opposition to the unfolding genocide in Palestine, both politicians and police were caught off guard when hundreds dared to defy the ban and take to the streets in Berlin’s Neukölln. Emboldened by the complicit media landscape that branded Palestinians as terrorists and Palestine solidarity as support of terrorism, they were met with the full arsenal of the police’ and institutions’ power. Over consecutive nights and weeks the neighborhood broke through the state’s attack and reclaimed their – only seemingly guaranteed – right to assembly. The legalized demonstration on November 4, 2023 must be understood as a direct result of the (physical) pressure that was created in the weeks prior on the streets of Neukölln.
Since then, countless demonstrations have passed through every major street in the German capital. They were confronted with changing levels of violence and legal restrictions which include the bans of symbols, slogans, chants and other forms of political expression. In Berlin alone, thousands of criminal proceedings are ongoing against these demonstrations with the aim of weakening the Palestinian movement that has proven astonishingly resilient to all kinds of repressive policies.
Even if different in their messaging, both the October 7th “Until total liberation” and the October 10th, 2026 “United for Palestine” demonstrations have been subjected to the same repressive methods. While the first was planned to start at metro station Schlesisches Tor, the latter tried to make Palestine visible in front of Berlins’ Brandenburger Tor. In both cases, the Berlin police denied the demonstrations their planned starting points a day before. A tactic that spreads confusion, and undermines weeks of mobilization with posters, flyers and social media. While it assigned to the first demonstration the well-controllable Oranienplatz, the second was moved to the “No Man’s Land” in between Bundestag and Kanzleramt, currently surrounded by an enormous construction site. In both cases, Berlin police facilitated Zionist protests waving the genocidal “IDF”, Israeli, Iranian Shah, and German flags.
The October 7th demonstration was stopped by the police so that a small Zionist protest can move from one crossing to the next, allowing it to follow along the Palestinian protest. Additionally, a great number of media outlets (e.g. Spiegel TV, NDR, RBB) either walked right in the middle of the protest filming or surrounded the protest together with police forces. Far from being ‘outside observers’, they actively shaped the mood and course of the demo. ‘Journalists’ frequently provoked protesters and contributed to the police’s policy of being a barrier between the protesters and passerbys. Lastly, the newly assigned route for the 7th of October demonstration made sure that protesters walk by the newly installed AI-cameras at Kottbusser Tor. The demonstration was eventually forcefully dissolved before coming close to its ending point at Hermannplatz in Neukölln.
In turn, the Zionist protest was positioned on two sides of the starting point of the 10th of October United for Palestine demonstration. Another protest dominated by Iranian Shah flags was positioned so, that almost everyone joining the United for Palestine demonstration has to pass by them. With the initial route denied, the organizers settled for a clearly less visible gathering point and a route which, for the first half, passed through almost entirely empty streets. In the opening speeches, they referred to the initial registration of the demonstration, which was done well in advance, and the fact that no concessions regarding time, route or rally points had made a positive impact on the negotiations with the police.
Last week’s demonstrations stand exemplary for a wider issue that we, in the solidarity movement, still don’t have an answer for yet. Instead of banning protests, the state, city and police have steadily restricted the advances that were costly fought for in October 2023 and before. Starting with the protest on November 4th 2023, and considering the violent repression since then, some might have concluded that concessions help us amplify our voices and slowly build agency against the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
But the past years have proven otherwise. Each step back has not led to reciprocal movements by the state and its repressive forces. On the contrary, both demonstrations have shown (again) that concessions are always met with more restrictions and shrinking space. The state’s objectives were, are, and will always be maintaining a controllable status quo in accordance with the Staatsräson. A situation that guarantees our inability to materially engage the situation in Germany and more importantly in Palestine.
We are now at a point where we make concessions even in central demonstrations that are co-organized and mobilized for by the entire movement – a situation where we are most capable of pushing back. It’s necessary to ask ourselves whether these concessions strengthen or unintentionally weaken the movement in solidarity with Palestine. And, if the latter, how we can – once again – break out of the too often passive and performative frames enforced on us.
