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Violent Anti-Israel Protests Target Pastor, Congregation in German Town
Illustrative: Anti-Israel protesters march in Germany, March 26, 2025. Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa via Reuters Connect
Anti-Israel protests in the southern German town of Langenau have recently escalated into physical violence against congregants, after a local pastor publicly condemned the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
In the German town near the city of Ulm, anti-Israel agitators gather every weekend outside St. Martin’s Church, targeting local pastor Ralf Sedlak and his congregation, accusing them of ignoring the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza conflict.
Last weekend, the activists once again protested outside the church, leaving behind bloodied baby dolls, severed limbs, antisemitic caricatures on signs, and a blood-stained teddy bear at the church’s entrance, according to German media reports.
They also hung a banner depicting a caricature of a Jew wearing a gas mask, supposedly “bathing in the blood of Palestinian victims” — with Germany and the United States shown as supporting the scene.
Gottesdienst nur unter Polizeischutz: In #Langenau eskalierten israelfeindliche Proteste gegen den evangelischen Pfarrer zuletzt sogar bis zu Handgreiflichkeiten mit Gemeindemitgliedern der Kirche. Perfider Auslöser war die Positionierung des Pfarrers gegen den Angriff der Hamas… pic.twitter.com/O94fLeFZ9I
— Jüdisches Forum (JFDA e.V.) (@JFDA_eV) July 14, 2025
Given the escalating threats, local authorities placed the church under police protection after around 35 protesters gathered early Sunday morning, deliberately positioning themselves at the church exit to verbally confront worshippers, Bild and the Jüdische Allgemeine reported.
During last weekend’s incidents, the church was vandalized with swastikas, and Sedlak was subjected to insults and threats.
In response to the attacks, Langenau’s mayor, Daria Henning, announced a general order banning gatherings near religious services to counter hostility toward Sedlak and the congregation.
However, it remains uncertain whether this order will hold up in court, as the municipal administration had previously declined to take such action due to legal protections for freedom of assembly.
The Orthodox Rabbinical Conference of Germany issued a statement condemning the attacks and standing in solidarity with Sedlak and his congregation, emphasizing that they deserve respect and support.
Sedlak’s “stance is a powerful example of true Christian responsibility in action and a reflection of the values that uphold our free society,” the statement read.
“What is taking place outside his church can no longer be seen as a legitimate protest. It is a deliberate and systematic disturbance of religious peace and an assault on the spiritual integrity of his congregation,” it continued.
Germany has experienced a sharp spike in antisemitism following the Oct. 7 massacre, amid the war in Gaza.
The number of antisemitic incidents in Germany almost doubled last year, the semi-official German body that tracks antisemitism reported last month.
The Federal Research and Information Point for Antisemitism (RIAS) said it had registered 8,627 incidents of violence, vandalism, and threats against Jews in Germany, almost twice the 4,886 recorded in 2023, and far ahead of 2020’s 1,957.
In just the first six months of 2024 alone, the number of antisemitic incidents in Berlin surpassed the total for all of the prior year and reached the highest annual count on record, according separate figured from RIAS.
The figures in Berlin were the highest count for a single year since the federally-funded body began monitoring antisemitic incidents in 2015, showing the German capital averaged nearly eight anti-Jewish outrages a day from January to June last year.
According to research from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), police registered 5,154 antisemitic incidents in Germany in 2023, a 95 percent increase compared to the previous year, with a huge spike occurring after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 atrocities in Israel.
The post Violent Anti-Israel Protests Target Pastor, Congregation in German Town 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.