Berlin expresses solidarity with Israel in the face of Hamas attacks, as pro-Palestinian riots erupt in the migrant neighbourhoods of the German capital

Image from Deutschlandfunk. Note the apparently indelible orange paint on the columns, still visible after the 17 September vandalism of Letzte Generation.

From Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, state media:

In an expression of solidarity with Israel, the Berlin government illuminated the Brandenburger Tor with the Israeli national colours on Saturday evening …A Star of David appeared in the centre under the quadriga.

The display was ordered in light of the fighting in southern Israel that has been ongoing since Saturday morning. Fighters of the Islamist terrorist organisation Hamas entered Israel from the Gaza Strip. They also fired several thousand rockets at the Jewish state. According to media reports, hundreds have been killed in the fighting.

RBB has learned that Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner ordered the display. “My thoughts are with the Israeli people, with the families and friends who are now mourning the victims and trembling with the hostages,” Wegner said on Saturday, adding that Berlin stands unwaveringly at Israel’s side in this difficult hour.

Not so unwaveringly, as it turns out. A mere bicycle ride away, in the migrant-saturated Neukölln neighbourhood, Palestinians erupted in celebration:

The Palestinian network Samidoun celebrated the attack of the terror organisation Hamas on Israel on Saturday. On Sonnenallee in the Berlin district of Neukölln, members of the network handed out sweets. The organisation posted photos and wrote on the internet platform X, formerly Twitter: “Long live the resistance of the Palestinian people.”

Berlin police stopped the action and issued citations – on what grounds is unclear – but the pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets again last night.

Security forces were dispatched to suppress them, and faced retaliation with paving stones and other projectiles, as they fought to stop this demonstration by one group of foreigners against their foreign enemies. They made forty arrests. In the aftermath, the Palestinian activist organisation Samidoun complained of the police “attack” on their “registered rally.” Samidoun are held to be an affiliate of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the European Union presently designates as a terrorist organisation.