German police shut down Palestine conference
“In perhaps the most serious round of repression against Palestine solidarity organizers, German police on Friday shut down the Palestine Congress in Berlin, arresting several attendees and ordering delegates to leave immediately.
“German officials also prohibited scheduled speaker Ghassan Abu Sitta, Palestinian-British surgeon and the rector of Glasgow University from even entering the country.
“He was to speak about his experiences with Palestinian victims of Israel in Gaza hospitals where he has worked.
“He says … that his testimony could be seen as evidence against Germany in the case Nicaragua has brought against Berlin at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
“Nicaragua has charged Germany with complicity with Israel’s genocide because of its arms shipments to Tel Aviv.
“The doctor says his treatment by the German authorities amounted to witness intimidation …
“Andrew Feinstein, son of a Holocaust survivor … who is challenging Labour leader Keir Starmer for his Parliamentary seat … told a conference on Gaza in Blackburn, England on Saturday, that he was supposed to be speaking on a panel with Dr. Ghassan.“‘Germany is the last country on the planet that should be displaying such fascist behavior’, Feinstein said …
“Red Media … [reported] that, ‘900 police [were] deployed to the congress, whose start they held up for hours. They … denied entry to most of the registered delegates’ …
“[According] to researcher Emily Dische-Becker, almost a third of those deplatformed, arrested, or otherwise sanctioned for alleged antisemitism are themselves Jewish …
“German authorities have staged several crackdowns on the Palestine solidarity movement since Oct. 7 …
“‘We Jews are just getting arrested, the Palestinians are being beaten’, German-Israeli activist Iris Hefets [said] …
“Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, who was inside the venue, was prevented from speaking ‘because German police burst into our Berlin venue to disband our Palestine Congress (1930s style)’, he wrote on X …”
https://mohandeer.wordpress.com/2024/04/16/german-police-shut-down-palestine-conference/