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Berlin police have confirmed that 57 people were arrested and 17 officers injured during a pro-Palestinian demonstration held on the sidelines of the city’s annual Pride celebrations.
The rally took place on Saturday and drew an estimated 10,000 participants, according to police reports.
Authorities intervened after organisers reportedly failed to maintain control of the crowd.
Police said the arrests were linked to various public order offences, including resisting arrest, physical altercations, and the throwing of bottles.
Some individuals were also detained for allegedly chanting anti-Semitic slogans and displaying symbols associated with banned or terrorist organisations.
The demonstration was organised by the “Internationalist Queer Pride for Liberation” group, which advocates for anti-imperialist and anti-colonial causes and describes itself as opposing Zionism.
The group argues there can be no queer liberation without confronting global systems of oppression, including those they associate with Israel’s policies.
The protest coincided with Berlin’s official Pride march, held in a different district of the city. That event also saw 64 arrests, mostly for assault, verbal abuse, and the reported display of prohibited symbols linked to terrorism.
Elsewhere in the city, far-right demonstrators held a separate protest against the Pride celebrations. Police confirmed that 20 individuals from that rally were taken into custody.
Germany, like much of Europe, has witnessed a wave of pro-Palestinian protests in recent months, fuelled by the continuing Israeli bombardment.
The war escalated after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to Israeli figures.
Israel has since launched a prolonged invasion and destruction of Gaza, which has so far claimed the lives of 59,733 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, according to reliable figures from the health ministry in Gaza.
While Germany has historically maintained firm support for Israel due to its responsibility for the Holocaust, the rising civilian toll in Gaza has led to increasingly critical rhetoric from Berlin.
The German government recently stated that recognising Palestinian statehood should be considered one of the final steps toward achieving a lasting two-state solution.
