PRO-PALESTINIAN RALLIES IN GERMANY BLAST ISRAELI APARTHEID

Thousands of people took to the streets of cities across Germany on Saturday, May 15, 2021, to protest Israel's military action in the Gaza Strip, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

The protesters shouted "Freedom for Palestine" and commemorated Nakba Day, referring to the Palestinian "catastrophe," which remembers the mass displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Around 2,500 people demonstrated for a free Palestine in Frankfurt city center.

Many of the participants came with Palestinian flags. There were no major incidents, according to a police spokesperson. The police broke up the gathering at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT or 12 a.m., Sunday, May 16, 2021, in Manila) because there had reportedly been violations of the regulations.

Despite tumultuous scenes at a pro-Palestinian rally in the southwestern city of Stuttgart, there were no injuries, a police spokesperson said. There were significantly more people than the 50 registered, and at the same time there were also counter-demonstrators.

Conflicts occurred between the different groups of demonstrators as well as with the police. Further to the southwest in Freiburg, the police spoke of a partly heated atmosphere at a rally with up to 600 participants, also organized by the initiative "Palestine Speaks."

There were banners with provocative - but not criminally relevant - content: Both the rally leader and the police had persuaded the participants to refrain from doing so, police said.

Some 120 people marched to the administrative buildings of the district of Neukoelln in Berlin, protesting peacefully. Another demonstration nearby attracted 3,500 people and turned violent when the police broke it up due to breaches of the coronavirus regulations, the police said.

Cologne in western Germany saw 800 people gather to defend the Palestinian cause and protest against Israel, demanding "Freedom for Palestine" and "Stop the genocide."

Protesters also carried signs saying "Against Zionists - not against Jews." The organizers shut the rally down early because more people showed up than expected, violating coronavirus regulations.

In Hamburg, some 120 people demonstrated peacefully in solidarity with the Palestinian people. They carried signs showing the map of the Palestinian Territories and Palestinian flags. The rally was later broken up as the crowd swelled to 500 people and the atmosphere got more charged when people appeared with Israeli flags, a police spokesperson said.

WEEKLY FEATURE : TRUEMONEY PHILIPPINES BUCKS THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE