An estimated 20,000 people turned out in Berlin, Germany, today for the rally against genocide in Gaza, according to its sponsor, the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW party). Banners included, “Stop the genocide in Gaza! No weapons in war zones! Peace instead of an arms race!”
The advance flyer for the rally included the following: “Gaza is now the largest children’s cemetery in the world. Every further armed conflict means even more deaths, even more suffering, even more hatred. Anyone who supplies weapons to the Netanyahu government is complicit in this genocide.
“When Russia breaks international law, people demand more weapons for Ukraine. When Israel breaks international law, we are told to continue supplying them. When the U.S. breaks international law, it is sold as a sign of strength. And when the German government spends billions on instruments of murder and turns Germany into Europe’s largest military power, it is supposedly only for our security.
“We do not believe these lies. Your double standards are unbearable. Your playing with fire frightens us. We condemn war crimes everywhere—in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Iran, or elsewhere.”
The flyer stated that in Iran, the victims of the bombs were predominantly civilians. The regime is more firmly in the saddle and is striving for nuclear armament. In Russia and Ukraine, hundreds of families mourn every day, because their sons, brothers, and fathers have been torn apart or burned in a senseless war. A world in which weapons rather than diplomats increasingly speak is a danger to us all. A heavily armed Germany has never made peace more secure.”
The organizers also stated opposition to the reactivation of compulsory military service and the stationing of U.S. medium-range missiles in Germany, scheduled for 2026. “Our survival does not depend on the level of our military spending.”
Speakers scheduled for the rally included Sahra Wagenknecht, prominent rapper Massiv (real name Wasiem Taha, of Palestinian family background), and 90-year-old comedian Dieter Hallervorden, among others. From Israel, historian and peace activist Moshe Zuckermann was to be connected via video, as will prominent pop musician, Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters.
