In Berlin on Saturday, thousands of people participated in a rally for peace in the Gaza Strip, called by BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht and other prominent supporters. People gathered in front of Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate on Saturday, demanding an end to "the genocide in Gaza" as well as a halt to arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Around 12,000 people joined the rally in the centre of the German capital condemning Israel's offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory, according to police figures. But the far-left BSW party, which had called the demonstration, estimated turnout at 20,000 people, making it one of the largest pro-Palestinian rallies in Germany in recent months.
In addition to Wagenknecht, the demonstration was called for by comedian Dieter Hallervorden, musician Peter Maffay, and rappers Massiv and Bausa, among others. The initiators called on the German government to "actively and credibly support peace negotiations – both in the Middle East and in Ukraine." They also demanded a general halt to arms deliveries to war zones.
"We are all here because we are raising our voices against the inhumane wars in this world," Wagenknecht said in her speech. "We also condemn the horrific massacre by Hamas and the hostage-taking." However, none of this justifies "indiscriminately bombing, murdering, starving, and expelling two million people in the Gaza Strip, half of them children."
The BSW head emphasized: "We condemn this war, and that's why we're here." Wagenknecht criticized the German government for its "unconditional loyalty" to the "right-wing extremist" Israeli government. Instead, she called for a halt to arms exports to Israel. "Wars aren't ended with ever more weapons. Wars are ended with diplomacy," Wagenknecht told her audience. What's needed is a strong peace movement, for peace in the Gaza Strip and in Europe.
Wagenknecht's positions are not without controversy. For example, the president of the Central Jewish Association, Josef Schuster, accused her of fueling hatred of Israel in Germany with her "rather populist stance." Wagenknecht and her party are also repeatedly criticized for being overly pro-Russian.
Marie Atwan, a 20-year-old student, told AFP that she had come from Hamburg to join the rally to demand "a complete halt to German arms deliveries" to Israel. Not banning those weapons sales amounted to supporting "the genocide in Gaza", she said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz had announced a partial arms embargo in August, saying that his country would halt the export of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip. Elit Hadilovic, 22, who was at the demonstration, told AFP that he was shocked by the situation in Gaza, where "innocent children (are) dying and suffering from hunger".
During the rally, BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht also touched on the war in Ukraine, demanding that Berlin commits "to peace negotiations, both in the Middle East and in Ukraine". In light of its historical responsibility for the Holocaust, Germany has made support for the State of Israel a cornerstone of its foreign policy.
But Berlin has grown increasingly critical of the Israeli campaign in Gaza and its impact on Palestinian civilians in recent months as the humanitarian situation has worsened, with the UN declaring famine in parts of the coastal territory.
The Gaza war erupted in October 2023, triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,756 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The United Nations considers those figures to be reliable.
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