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By Palestine Chronicle Employees
“The congress couldn’t be banned. Freedom of meeting protects the congress, which is exactly why the police got here up with all kinds of harassment.”
German police shut down a Palestine convention in Berlin quickly after it started, simply hours after one of many occasion’s major audio system was detained on the airport and subsequently denied entry into the nation.
Dozens of law enforcement officials stormed the Palestine Congress occasion on Friday, chopping off the livestream transmission in addition to the electrical energy, with one official reportedly ordering the 250 members to go away the venue.
No less than three individuals have been arrested, in line with reviews.
“Berlin police simply canceled your entire Palestine Congress. I used to be the one speaker that efficiently completed a speech. Salman Abu Sitta was lower off after 1 minute. Our livestream ended and electrical energy lower off. That is Germany,” journalist Hebh Jamal posted on X.
Berlin police simply canceled your entire Palestine Congress. I used to be the one speaker that efficiently completed a speech.
Salman Abu Sitta was lower off after 1 minute. Our livestream ended and electrical energy lower off.
That is Germany. pic.twitter.com/07NUCpownv
— Hebh Jamal (@hebh_jamal) April 12, 2024
Nadija Samour, a congress organizer, informed the Anadolu information company earlier than the beginning of the convention that the German authorities had actively and illicitly tried to cease or delay the Palestine Congress from taking place.
There’s “stress from the federal authorities” to cancel the congress, Samour mentioned.
She additionally reportedly accused Berlin of deliberately delaying the beginning of the congress, citing technical causes as a pretext.
“The congress couldn’t be banned. Freedom of meeting protects the congress, which is exactly why the police got here up with all kinds of harassment. Be it hearth safety or the owner’s enterprise license,” she mentioned.
One of many occasion’s organizers, reportedly a Jewish activist, Udi Ruz, was amongst these arrested.
‘Danger’ of Anti-Semitism
A press release by the Berlin police on X mentioned that “on the Palestine Congress, a speaker was related who’s banned from political exercise. There’s a danger {that a} speaker who has made anti-Semitic or violence-glorifying public statements prior to now might be referred to as in repeatedly. Subsequently, the assembly was terminated and a ban was additionally imposed for Saturday and Sunday.”
Auf dem “Palästina-Kongress” wurde ein Redner zugeschaltet, der ein politisches Betätigungsverbot hat.
Es besteht die Gefahr, dass wiederholt ein Redner zugeschaltet wird, der sich schon in der Vergangenheit antisemitisch bzw. gewaltverherrlichend öffentlich geäußert hat.
Daher… https://t.co/yqZKggFEc4— Polizei Berlin Einsatz (@PolizeiBerlin_E) April 12, 2024
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a British-Palestinian surgeon, mentioned he was detained on Friday morning on the airport and “questioned for round 3.5 hours.”
He was later informed he would “not be allowed to enter German soil, and that this ban will final the entire of April.”
“And never simply that, that if I have been to attempt to hyperlink up by Zoom or FaceTime with the convention, even when I used to be exterior Germany, or I have been to ship a video of my lecture to the convention in Berlin, then that may represent a breach of German legislation and that I’d endanger myself to having a high quality and even as much as a 12 months of jail.”
Dr. Abu Sitta mentioned his passport was then taken away from him and solely returned to him “as I used to be boarding the aircraft.”
The surgeon mentioned he was to share his proof “of the 43 days that I had seen within the hospitals in Gaza, working in each Shifa and al-Ahli hospital.”
Samour mentioned “Sittah is the dean of the College of Glasgow. I can’t think about that he’s a harmful individual or an individual who incites violence. Fairly the alternative.”
Scenes in Gaza are Dystopian – Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah
Theme: ‘We Accuse’
Anadolu reported that in line with the organizers, the convention was alleged to take a crucial have a look at the German navy help for Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
The congress had referred to as for “a right away cease-fire as nicely speedy withdrawal of the Israeli military.”
Organizers had additionally reportedly urged an “speedy cessation of all navy, diplomatic, and financial help for Israel by the German state in addition to a complete navy embargo” on Tel Aviv.
Invited to deal with a convention in Berlin about my work in Gaza hospitals throughout the current battle.
The German authorities has forcibly prevented me from coming into the nation
Silencing a witness to genocide earlier than the ICJ provides to Germany’s complicity within the ongoing bloodbath.— Ghassan Abu Sitta (@GhassanAbuSitt1) April 12, 2024
There had been intense stress from pro-Israeli politicians in current days to ban the occasion, as lots of of police surrounded the congress venue in Berlin’s Tempelhof district, the report mentioned.
Quite a few pro-Palestinian teams and primarily leftist initiatives invited individuals to the three-day worldwide assembly beneath the motto “We accuse,” mentioned Anadolu.
ICJ Case
Nicaragua has introduced a authorized case in opposition to Germany earlier than the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ).
Berlin is accused of “facilitating the fee of genocide” in opposition to Palestinians in Gaza by persevering with to provide weapons to Israel.
In response to the case, Germany has violated its obligations beneath the 1948 Genocide Conference and different norms of basic worldwide legislation by taking part in “the continued believable genocide and critical breaches of worldwide humanitarian legislation and different peremptory norms of basic worldwide legislation occurring within the Gaza Strip”.
Dr Abu Sitta mentioned on X: “Silencing a witness to genocide earlier than the ICJ provides to Germany’s complicity within the ongoing bloodbath.”
‘Pontius Pilate-like’ – Nicaragua Slams Germany at ICJ for Supporting Israel
A protest was held on Friday night exterior the German embassy in London following his detention and deportation from Berlin.
“What might have simply been a neighborhood occasion of a convention on Palestine has now change into the main target of the world’s consideration,” Dr Abu Sitta mentioned on the protest.
“Accomplices in a criminal offense attempt to cover the proof, and silence the witnesses,” the surgeon mentioned. “They won’t silence us, they are going to by no means silence us…These of us who have been in Gaza, within the hospitals, Germany and its different accomplices on this genocidal warfare, need us to unsee the kids that they’ve killed.”
Though the US has historically been Israel’s largest arms provider, Germany and the UK have additionally reportedly been offering vital help to Israel for a few years.
Anadolu reported that in line with the newest knowledge from the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute (SIPRI), the US equipped 70.2% of Israel’s typical arms procurement from 2011 to 2020. Germany adopted with 23.9%, and Italy with 5.9%.
(PC, Anadolu)
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