Bavaria’s Interior Minister speaks in an interview about the pro-Palestine demonstrations of the last few days. These types of demonstrations are constantly increasing.
Munich – What do we have to endure and enable as a demo, where does the state take action? We ask Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) about the pro-Palestine demos at the weekend.
Which kinds of rallies against the Gaza war are legitimate and which are banned?
It is important to strongly prevent violence, incitement and other criminally relevant incidents. This also applies to anti-Semitic slogans and when Israel’s right to exist is questioned. So far there have been no excesses in Bavaria like those reported in Berlin or North Rhine-Westphalia. We are doing everything we can to ensure that it stays that way – even if it unfortunately involves a lot of work for the Bavarian police.
How do police officers recognize which slogans they need to intervene in?
All police officers deployed are trained on which symbols or slogans they need to pay attention to. In addition, specialists from the criminal police and special interpreters accompany the rallies. In addition, the police have the opportunity to document criminal anti-Semitic slogans using video recordings.
What if not just one but hundreds chant banned slogans?
This will also be consistently prosecuted. The police commander must decide on a case-by-case basis whether such a gathering should be broken up.
In Bavaria, the demonstrations have so far been smaller and more peaceful than in Berlin or Essen. Is Bavaria just lucky?
In any case, we have had a very consistent line in Bavaria against violations of the law during demonstrations for many years. If necessary, the Bavarian Police are on site with strong emergency services, often with the support of the riot police. According to current statistics, almost half of the crimes in recent weeks related to the Hamas attack on Israel took place in Berlin. This is certainly also due to the fact that there are an above-average number of Palestinians living there and therefore a correspondingly strong “hard core”. There also seems to be overlap with the notorious clans from Lebanon and other Arab states.
Is it grounds for expulsion if someone shouts anti-Semitic slogans at such a demonstration?
Anti-Semitic crimes such as incitement to hatred, but also propaganda for terrorist organizations such as Hamas or public calls for violence can be grounds for expulsion under the current legal situation; this is consistently examined on a case-by-case basis. But that depends on the duration and status of the stay.
Can Palestinians be deported?
In fact, since there is no Palestinian state, stateless Palestinians cannot be easily deported. But there are also people with Egyptian, Lebanese or Jordanian nationality.
In view of the destruction in Gaza: Do you also understand that Palestinians are giving vent to demonstrations?
This war was started by Hamas and is causing terrible suffering on both sides. I understand events at which civilians peacefully pray for Israeli and Palestinian victims. When it comes to hatred of Jews and any form of anti-Semitism in Germany, the limit has clearly been crossed and we will not tolerate that.
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