German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday joined a broad coalition of participants at Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate for a massive rally in support of Israel and decrying antisemitism.
Organizers said some 20,000 participants were in attendance, however, police put the number closer to 10,000.
The rally featured representatives from the German-Israeli Society, most major political parties, the Council of the Protestant Church of Germany, the German Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the Federation of German Industries, the German Trade Union Federation, as well as a speech by Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor.
Relatives of Israelis taken hostage by the Islamist group Hamas — which controls the Gaza Strip and is labeled a terrorist organization by Israel, Germany, the European Union and the United States — were also on the list of speakers.
The Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, was dedicated to the roughly 1,400 Israeli civilians killed in Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack on Israel’s border region to the Gaza Strip.

Germany also saw demonstrations in support of civilians trapped in Gaza Saturday amid heavy police presence. Authorities say the events drew more participants than expected but were largely peaceful.
Police say pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place in Cologne, Frankfurt, Hanover, Karlsruhe, Münster and Stuttgart. The largest, however, appears to have taken place in the western German city of Düsseldorf, where an estimated 7,000 people marched under the motto, “For peace, justice, and human dignity in Palestine.” The events were all accompanied by a heavy police presence.
A march scheduled to take place in central Berlin on Sunday, however, has been canceled by police, who cited the “imminent danger” of incitement, antisemitic slogans and violence or the glorification thereof at the event. Sunday’s event was the latest of several to be canceled in the capital, with Berlin authorities announcing that all substitute events will be banned until at least October 30.
Demonstrators called for an end to violence in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 4,000 Palestinians in recent weeks, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry.

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