Over 20,000 rally in Berlin against Israeli genocide in Gaza

BERLIN

More than 20,000 people rallied in Berlin on Saturday to voice their outrage over the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Titled ‘Stop the genocide in Gaza,’ speakers voiced their strong protest against Israel’s lethal military campaign in the Palestinian enclave.

“We are all here today to support our brothers and sisters in Palestine. The vast, vast majority of ordinary people all over the globe are demanding an end to the unspeakable crime that Israel is committing. Not just in Gaza but in the rest of occupied Palestine,” said former Pink Floyd singer Roger Waters in his video message to the crowd.

Waters’ remarks were echoed by the head of the left-populist BSW party, Sahra Wagenknecht, who said while she condemns the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, “none of this justifies, to be clear, indiscriminately bombing, murdering, starving, and expelling two million people in the Gaza Strip, half of them children.”

“This is a war of annihilation, and we condemn this war,” Wagenknecht added.

At least 64,756 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023.

Wagenknecht emphasized that one should not conclude from Germany’s Nazi past that one should "unconditionally support a right-wing extremist (Israeli) government that commits genocide."

Rather, the right lesson is to raise one's own voice. Germany is not just a spectator but an "accomplice." Chancellor Friedrich Merz is "trampling" all over international law by sending arms to Israel, she said.

Waving Palestinian flags, protesters also called for an end to German arms deliveries to Israel.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.