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Palestinian activist Abed Darwish (Abu Ibrahim) was arrested and detained for several hours by Berlin police following his participation in a demonstration held on June 5, 2025, demanding an end to the blockade imposed on Gaza Strip, according to Facebook post on his FB page.
Mr. Darwish is highly respected leader and a well-known activist within Berlin Palestinian community was detained for several hours by German authorities on charges of "insulting Jews"—a false charge based on no evidence, but rather part of the systematic crackdown on voices expressing solidarity with the Palestinian cause in Germany.
Mr. Darwish stated after his release that he would file a legal complaint with a German court against this arbitrary measure, emphasizing his adherence to his right to express his opinion and defend the justice of the Palestinian cause, and to have the charges against him dropped and all false statements against him be retracted by the government.
A news article by DPA International reported that Germany's Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger has lashed out at a letter of support from around 100 educators at Berlin universities in favor of pro-Palestinian demonstrators. She accused protesters and educators at Berlin universities of promoting hatred against Israel and Jews. Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner also told the Bild, "I have absolutely no sympathy for the authors of the letter. I have no sympathy for the educators' letter." The mayor of Berlin, who is from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party support the position of the education minister, who is from the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
I wish to disagree agree with these two clowns! No one ever equates Israeli terrorism with Judaism. They should stop conflating criticism of Israel with antisemitism. This sound like a broken record. German officials should quit smearing pro-Palestinian activists because they are protesting against the genocide and mass starvation in Gaza. Keep in mind that savagely beating pro-Palestinians for protesting the murder of women and children in Gaza is not the norm of a civilized nation and a democratic society.
Last March, German police arrested an American female student in Berlin for posting the slogan, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free," on her social media. The German Police also raided homes and interrogated 45 students in 11 states. Another 37 suspects who were already searched and interrogated previously were searched again.
Several German states, including Bavaria and Berlin, have banned the chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” late last year, arguing that it was antisemitic although many activists have insisted that it was a call for equal rights and justice for Palestinians. Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, has cracked down hard on pro-Palestinian public events, and banned dozens of pro-Palestinian rallies in major cities in recent months.
The facts remain:
* Germany is simply providing political cover for Israel to continue its plan to assassinate, starve, persecute and displace Palestinians.
* Germany justified attack on civilians under the guise of "self-defense."
* Germany blocked ceasefire efforts as Israel devastated Gaza.
* Germany refused to enforce arrest warrants for Israeli officials implicated in crimes against humanity.
* Germany attacked South Africa's ICJ case against Israel, rejecting it as "baseless" despite court finding.
* Germany authorized over 400 million euros in military exports to Israeli in 2023 alone.
* Germany is the second-largest exporter of major conventional arms to Apartheid Israel.
* Germany is the only country in the world that demand Palestinian applicants for citizenship to accept the Israeli occupation of their homeland in order to get a German passport.
* Germany is the only country in the world to:
1- Ban the inverted red triangle.
2- Ban the wearing of Palestinian scarves in school, saying it could be a "threat to school peace."
3- Ban the chant/slogan, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free."
4- Ban flying the Palestinian flag.
5- Ban pro-Palestinian Jewish event and arrest a board member of Jewish Voice for Peace in the Middle East, after they cancelled and banned the group three days conference in April 2024.
Germany never learned from its dark and violent history, that no one should be proud of.
Would Germany soon ban the sale of sliced watermelon in grocery stores? The reason I asked is because watermelon has been used as a pro-Palestinian symbol in protest and works of art, representing the struggle against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It has the same color of the Palestinian flag, red, green, white and black.
Mahmoud El-Youseph is a Palestinian freelancer and Ret. USAF veteran: He could be reached at elyousseph6@yahoo.com