Palestine supporters in France, Germany struggle to be heard amid protest ban

As tens of thousands of people took to the streets around the world on Oct. 13 in support of the Palestinians, all such protests in Germany and France have been banned.

The two countries - home to the European Union's largest Jewish and Muslim communities - have cracked down on pro-Palestinian groups since Hamas burst over the border from Palestine's Gaza on Oct. 7.

Supporters of the Palestinians say they feel blocked from publicly expressing support or concern for people in Gaza without risking arrest, their jobs or immigration status.

"We are scared, we are worried about being accused of justifying terrorism, when we just want to support a humanitarian cause," said Messika Medjoub a 20-year-old French-Algerian history student.

She was speaking at a banned protest in Paris last Thursday which police broke up with teargas and water cannon.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin clamped a nationwide ban on pro-Palestinian protests last week, citing the risk of public disorder. Nine have been banned in Paris since Oct.7.

Over the weekend, Paris police issued a ban on the "presence and circulation of people that present themselves as pro-Palestinian". Since Oct. 12 they have issued 752 fines and arrested 43 people.

Legitimate protest is being repressed

In Germany, Berlin police have approved two requests for pro-Palestine protests since the initial attacks, a police spokesperson said. Both were proposed as silent vigils.

But at least seven, including one called Jewish Berliners Against Middle Eastern Violence and another entitled Youth Against Racism, were refused permission. At least 190 people have been detained at protests.

Post-World War Two German goverments have pursued close ties with Israel because of the killing of six million European Jews in the Holocaust by the Nazis.

Human rights groups say Jewish communities must be protected but they are concerned legitimate protest is being repressed.

"Human rights law doesn't allow the government to just broadly say there is a concern about violence and use that as a justification to ban protests," said Benjamin Ward, a deputy director at Human Rights Watch.

"The question is whether it's proportionate - and that's where I think there is a concern."

'Stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes'

With an estimated 30,000 Palestinians, Berlin has one of the largest diaspora communities outside the Middle East, and anxiety over what is happening in Gaza is running high.

At an unauthorised protest in Berlin last week, Palestinians said they felt nervous about speaking out, fearful of being labelled pro-Hamas in a country where supporting Israel is sacrosanct.

"I feel that in Germany we're not allowed to speak our mind," said Saleh Said, standing on the fringes of an unauthorised gathering.

Berlin's education authorities last week told schools they could ban students from wearing the Palestinian Keffiyeh scarf and "free Palestine" stickers.

Even before the Hamas attack on Israel, Germany was restricting pro-Palestinian demonstrations, with Berlin authorities banning several on public safety grounds.

Amnesty International said in September that German police's justifications for bans on pro-Palestinian groups appeared to be based on "stigmatising and discriminatory stereotypes", citing references in police orders to people "from the Arab diaspora, in particular with Palestinian background".

Hungary and Austria have also blocked pro-Palestine protests since Oct.7, while in the rest of Europe large rallies supporting Palestinians have been held with few restrictions.