After a justified demonstration in Berlin Neukölln/Kreuzberg last weekend, which was directed against the renewed attacks of the Israeli army on the Al Aqsa Mosque, as well as against the bombardments of the Gaza Strip, the German bourgeois press again started a smear campaign against the supporters of the Palestinian liberation struggle. The demonstration organised by the comrades of Samidoun, with several hundred participants, was demonised in the German press from the hate paper BZ to the state media such as the Tagesschau and dubbed as anti-Semitic and inciting the people. Slogans against Israel and for a free and self-determined Palestine are now said to be the reason for "harsh prosecution" as demanded by high German politicians such as Berlin's Mayor Franziska Giffey or Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (both SPD). The recent attacks on the Al Aqsa mosque, the rockets on Gaza and the ongoing genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians, which has escalated even further this year, on the other hand, receive no attention whatsoever in the articles about the demonstration, even though it was a reaction to precisely these attacks.

Anyone who has seen the pictures from the Temple Mount last week, showing Israeli soldiers beating praying people with rifle butts, and anyone who has seen the renewed pictures of a Gaza Strip scarred by rocket explosions, has seen who the real terrorist is. But the reactionary German state, with its raison d'état to defend Israel no matter what, is vehemently leading the fight against supporters of the Palestinian cause and has intensified it in recent years. This is shown by the current press coverage or the general ban on demonstrations by Palestinian groups on Nakba Day, which was enacted in Berlin last year.

Samidoun has written a comprehensive statement on the weekend's demonstration, which we would also like to refer to here. The statement can be found HERE.