Police in Berlin interrupted a pro-Palestinian conference shortly after it began, and several hours after one of the main speakers said he was detained by authorities at the airport and prevented from entering Germany.
On Friday, police wrote on the social media platform
Police did not release the name of the speaker, but participants at the meeting wrote to X that he was Salman Abu Shitta, a Palestinian researcher.
Police then wrote to X that they had banned the remainder of the meeting, which was attended by about 250 people and was scheduled to last until Sunday.
They said there was a risk that the same speaker would be invited to speak again for having made “anti-Semitic” comments in the past.
Berlin police just canceled the entire Palestinian parliament. I was the only speaker who successfully completed his speech.
Salman Abu Shitta was cut after a minute. The live stream ended and the electricity went out.
This is Germany. pic.twitter.com/07NUCpownv
— Hebh Jamal (@hebh_jamal) April 12, 2024
Condemning Israeli crimes in Gaza, organizers said on the conference website: “Together with the voices of the Palestinian movement and the international community, we condemn Israeli apartheid and genocide.” We accuse Germany of complicity. ”
Berlin police said they had sent 930 officers, including reinforcements from other parts of Germany, to guard the event.
“Silence the witness”
He said one of the main speakers, British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Shitta, had previously been refused entry to Germany to take part in the event.
“The German government forcibly blocked my entry,” Abu Shitta wrote on X.
The doctor, who had been volunteering at a hospital in Gaza during the first weeks of Israel's war, was stopped at passport control after arriving at Berlin airport on Friday morning and detained for several hours before returning to the UK. He said he was told he had to.
Airport police said Abu Sitta told The Associated Press that he was denied entry due to “safety and security of conference participants.”
“This has absolutely no legal basis and cannot be justified,” event organizer Nadija Samour told Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency. [Abu] Mr Sitta is Dean of the University of Glasgow. He does not appear to be a dangerous person or someone who would incite violence. Quite the opposite. ”
Abu Sitter added to X that banning him from attending the event “is to silence the witnesses to the genocide before the ICJ strengthens Germany's complicity in the ongoing genocide.”
I was invited to speak at a conference in Berlin about my work in hospitals in Gaza during the current conflict.
The German government forcibly blocked my entry.
Silencing genocide witnesses before the ICJ will further strengthen Germany's complicity in the ongoing genocide.— Ghassan Abu Sitt (@GhassanAbuSitt1) April 12, 2024
A UN Supreme Court case brought by Nicaragua accuses Germany of selling weapons to Israel and supporting genocide in the Gaza Strip, where more than 33,600 people have been killed in the war since October 7. confronting.
Germany is one of Israel's biggest military suppliers, sending 326.5 million euros ($353.7 million) in equipment and weapons in 2023, according to Economy Ministry data.
“Government pressure”
There was “pressure from the federal government” to cancel the Palestinian conference, organizer Samour told Anadolu, adding that Germany was “actively and illegally” trying to disrupt the conference.
He also accused Berlin of deliberately delaying the start of the conference, citing technical reasons as an excuse.
“Parliament could not be banned. Freedom of assembly protects parliament, which is why the police carried out all kinds of harassment,” she said.
On Friday, crowds waiting to enter the venue chanted slogans such as “Viva, Viva Palestine” and “German finances, Israeli bombs.” Some waved Palestinian flags outside the building.
Berlin police have generally taken a tough stance against pro-Palestinian protests since the start of the war in Gaza. Authorities have imposed strict conditions on demonstrations or banned them altogether.
Protesters and critics have accused authorities of violating democratic freedoms of speech and assembly with the crackdown.