Commemorations and vigils were held across Germany on Monday as the world marked the first anniversary of the unprecedented attack on Israel by the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
The projection of the Israeli flag illuminated the symbolic Brandenburg Gate in the heart of the German capital Berlin after dusk, where activists gathered to read the names of the 1,170 people killed and 255 kidnapped in Israel on October 7. , 2023.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday urged the entire country to adhere to the motto “Never again,” a phrase used in Germany to refer to the month of the Holocaust, when the Nazi leadership systematically killed six million Jews.
The Hamas attack on communities and a music festival in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, is considered the largest attack on Jews since the Nazi-era atrocities.
Germany’s post-war leaders have pointed out that the country has a historical obligation to build close ties with Israel, and Germany remains a close friend and supporter of the Jewish state.
About 100 hostages taken by Hamas are believed to be still being held in the Gaza Strip, although it is not clear if they are still alive.
Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, prompting global condemnation and fears of regional escalation that have worsened amid recent Israeli military incursions into Lebanon and a barrage of missiles fired at Israel from Iran.
The war in Gaza he was killed Too many’
Steinmeier, who will deliver a speech at an interfaith memorial service in Berlin on Monday evening, is expected to urge citizens to refrain from reckless criticism of Israel.
The war in Gaza “has killed so many people and caused so much suffering – for Israelis and Palestinians, and now for the people of Lebanon,” Steinmeier is expected to say in a statement previewed by dpa.
“Questions are being asked loudly and urgently, and the public debate is heating up – less about whether Israel has a right to self-defense, and more about where the limits of any right to self-defense lie,” Steinmeier said.
He said he would like to “see an end to the deaths in the Middle East,” but warned against “easy, simple” advice.
“The death of people in Gaza, hunger, destruction of property would not have happened without the attacks and massacres of October 7 last year,” he said.
Steinmeier also expressed his alarm about anti-Semitism in Germany and the feeling of insecurity among Jews in Germany.
“But no matter how worried we may be, we must not lose our way,” warned Steinmeier.
Attacks and threats or protesters who want a Middle East without Israel are tantamount to hating Jews, he added. “We must not and will not tolerate that.”
Participants in the service program walked peacefully to the nearest Jewish community center. An additional memorial service will take place in front of the building.
In Hamburg, an evening memorial service is planned at the Hohe Weide Synagogue, where Chancellor Olaf Scholz will make a statement.
Other services are organized throughout many cities, including the Ohel Jakob Synagogue in Munich.
Pro-Palestine demonstrations
Dozens of pro-Palestinian rallies were held in cities across the country, including Frankfurt, where the rally was due to go ahead after a court overturned the city’s ban.
Another major protest is expected in Berlin, where a march against the war on Gaza was shut down on Sunday after some of the 3,500 participants clashed with police.
Authorities in the German capital deployed more than 2,000 officers on Monday in an effort to secure vigils and maintain peace.
Police arrested several people at an afternoon protest in Berlin after protesters who expressed solidarity with Palestine allegedly threw bottles at police officers and chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a statement German authorities want to ban as a group. Hamas propaganda slogan calling for the elimination of Israel.
School said Germany stands with Israel
The result on October 7 was particularly sensitive in Germany, which sees Israel’s security as a “reason for the state” – a phrase that refers to Berlin’s historical responsibility to the nation of Israel following the Holocaust.
However, the country’s significant Muslim minority and pro-Palestinian activists have been divided by what they see as the German government’s failure to address the plight of Palestinian citizens in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking in Hamburg on Monday, Scholz called for a ceasefire in the Middle East and expressed solidarity with Israel.
“Dear friends in Israel, we sympathize with you … we stand by your side,” the chancellor said at the opening of a conference on sustainable development in the northern German city.
Scholz also spoke about the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza.
“Nothing good can come from facing violence and hunger every day,” said the councillor. “That’s why the federal government wants to stop fighting, release hostages, and have a political process, even though now it seems more distant than before.”
The only solution to this conflict, for Scholz, is a two-state solution, so that “Israelis and Palestinians can live together forever.”