Heavy turnout at al-Quds rally in Berlin calls for Israel’s destruction

Slogans heard at the anti-Israel rally included: “Zionists are the perpetrators” and “Zionists anywhere, you will lose everywhere.”

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL
Updated: JUNE 10, 2018 01:39
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS march during a demonstration in Berlin. (photo credit: REUTERS)
ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS march during a demonstration in Berlin.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Anti-Israel protesters hit the streets on Saturday in stronger numbers than previous years to demonstrate against the existence of the Jewish state at the annual al-Quds Day rally in the heart of Berlin’s bustling shopping district.
German media reports cited police stating that roughly 1,600 protesters turned out to urge the obliteration of Israel. The pro-Israel protesters paled in comparison to al-Quds Day supporters, numbering some several hundred.
The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, created the al-Quds Day in 1979 as a worldwide demonstration to protest Israel’s existence.
Slogans heard at the anti-Israel rally included: “Zionists are the perpetrators” and “Zionists anywhere, you will lose everywhere,” according to a Tweet posted by Potsdamer Neuste Nachrichten reporter René Garzkee.
A photograph of the protest showed a sign comparing Zionism to Nazis. Lebanese flags were also on display. Many of the marchers were Hezbollah supporters and members. Berlin’s domestic intelligence agency said in 2017 that 250 Hezbollah members operate in the capital city. The US, Israel, the Arab League, Canada and the Netherlands designated all of Hezbollah a terrorist organization.  Germany refuses to outlaw all of Hezbollah.
A pro-boycott Israel sign was also shown at the rally, with the words: “Boycott Israel, Free Palestine.” Berlin’s total population is roughly 3.7 million.
“The law entitles the radical Muslim organization, with conditions, to assemble. A demonstration against the existence of Israel on the streets of Berlin is still intolerable,” BZ journalist Kai Ritzmann wrote on Saturday.
BILD journalist Antje Schippmann tweeted, “Also again at today’s antisemitic al-Quds march in Berlin: Ayatollah Hamidreza Torabi.”
Torabi, who heads the Islamic Academy of Germany – part of the Iranian regimeowned Islamic Center of Hamburg, is a key organizer of the al-Quds. The Islamic Center buses pro-Hezbollah and pro-Iranian regime members and activists to the annual event.
In May 2017, then-German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel welcomed Torabi to a ministry event promoting religious peace. The Social Democrat Gabriel is widely viewed as a pro-Iranian regime politician.
Berlin’s mayor declined to test the legal waters and did not ban the al-Quds rally fearing the city might lose the legal action.