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‘Shoot Jews or Hand Them Over to Hamas!’: Antisemitic Demonstration, Police Inaction in Berlin Spark Outrage
Supporters of Hamas gather in Berlin. Photo: Reuters/M. Golejewski
Participants in an anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstration in Germany this past weekend called for Jews to be executed or handed over to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, sparking outrage among German leaders.
Under the slogan “Hands off the West Bank,” protesters, mostly of Arab descent, marched through Berlin from Alexanderplatz to Potsdamer Platz on Saturday, German media reported.
“Anyone with a weapon should use it to shoot Jews or hand them over to Hamas!” the marchers chanted loudly several times, according to the German tabloid newspaper Bild. Up to 280 activists reportedly participated in the demonstration.
„Wer eine Waffe hat, soll damit Juden erschießen oder sie der Hamas übergeben“ – lautstark und ungeniert skandiert. Empört sich die Politik? Gehen die „Guten“ jetzt auf die Straße? Oder bleibt der antifaschistische Kampf wieder selektiv?
pic.twitter.com/00T4nj2tlL— Ahmad Mansour
(@AhmadMansour__) February 1, 2025
In response, Berlin’s Governing Mayor Kai Wegner is now pushing for an initiative to potentially ban protests that incite violence.
“If a movement consistently promotes violence and hatred, the Berlin police will consider banning these protests,” Wegner told Bild. “Inciting hatred and calling for terrorism are not acts of free speech, but criminal offenses. The safety and protection of Jews are my highest priority.”
“When I hear such misanthropic and antisemitic slogans at the demonstrations in Berlin, it deeply shocks me,” Wegner continued. “In this instance, the police and judiciary of Berlin will take action against the alleged offenders with the full force of the rule of law.”
On Saturday, however, it appears that law enforcement did little to intervene.
According to the Berlin police, the demonstration on Saturday involved “statements potentially punishable by law for supporting terrorist organizations banned in Germany.”
Police are currently reviewing the footage of the protest, with the documentation being handled by the State Security Service.
“Due to language barriers and the level of noise associated with the event, a clear translation could not be made for an immediate assessment,” the police said in a post on X/Twitter.
Bei einer Versammlung in #Mitte kam es heute Abend zu möglicherweise strafbaren Ausrufen für in Deutschland verbotene Terrororganisationen. Aufgrund der Sprachbarrieren und der mit dem Aufzugsgeschehen einhergehenden Lautstärke konnte nicht an allen Stellen eine durchgängige… pic.twitter.com/zn5jnVVqom
— Polizei Berlin (@polizeiberlin) February 1, 2025
According to Bild, only three individuals were temporarily detained to confirm their identities, and two defamation complaints have been filed so far.
Peter Langer, secretary general of the center-right Berlin Free Democratic Party (FDP), condemned the weekend demonstration, stressing that the police should be given the authority to quickly disperse protests that essentially promote terrorist propaganda.
“Kai Wegner must finally turn his grand words into actions,” Langer said. “I expect him to present a concrete plan on how they intend to stop this issue.”
Last year, Berlin experienced a record number of antisemitic incidents, with the total for the first six months of 2024 exceeding the entire count for 2023.
Germany’s Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism (RIAS) documented 1,383 antisemitic incidents in Berlin from January to June, averaging nearly eight per day.
The figure compiled by RIAS, a federally-funded body, was a significant increase from the 1,270 antisemitic outrages tallied in 2023 and the highest count for a single year since RIAS began monitoring antisemitic incidents in 2015.
Of the 1,383 incidents documented in the first half of last year, two were cases of “extreme violence,” another 23 were attacks (six of which were against children), and 37 were targeted acts of property damage, including 21 acts involving memorials.
Like many countries around the world, Germany has seen a major spike in antisemitic incidents following Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
During the Oct. 7 onslaught, Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people, wounded thousands more, and took 251 hostages to Gaza while committing widespread sexual violence, making it the deadliest single day for Jews since the Holocaust.
The post ‘Shoot Jews or Hand Them Over to Hamas!’: Antisemitic Demonstration, Police Inaction in Berlin Spark Outrage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.