Hebh Jamal
Mondoweiss / October 5, 2024
On Monday, September 30, 125 Berlin police officers conducted early morning raids on the homes of five Palestine activists in what movement leaders believe was an intimidation tactic ahead of October 7 anniversary protests.
On Monday, September 30, the Berlin police, on behalf of the public prosecutor’s office, conducted house raids with a total of 125 officers, on the homes of five pro-Palestinian activists ranging in age from 18 to 40. The simultaneous raids took place around 6:00 a.m., in what police describe as a series of “pro-Palestinian motivated crimes.”
In a press release, the Berlin police stated that the alleged crimes ranged from “breaching the peace,” to “throwing a microphone stand” and calling a politician a “racist,” to alleged antisemitism, such as calling for the return of Adolf Hitler, to posting “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” on Instagram, which the Berlin prosecutor believe to be calling for “the annihilation of the State of Israel.”
Khaled was one of the individuals who were raided at 5:40 a.m. in his Berlin home that he shares with his family. In a viral video posted on X by red., Khaled is seen in handcuffs on the floor in a video taken by his family member. Khaled spoke to Mondoweiss about what took place inside his home.
“They banged on the door and demanded I put my hands up and get on the floor, so I followed their orders. They handcuffed me and kept me like that till they searched the whole home, including the rooms of my parents and sisters, but it was me they focused on,” Khaled said. After about an hour and a half the police left with Khaled’s phone and laptop, and finally removed the handcuffs.
Khaled says he wasn’t afraid, but he felt anxious and humiliated. “I couldn’t stay in the house, I had to leave. I was deeply bothered and disturbed especially since I know I did not do anything wrong,” he told Mondoweiss.
Muhammad, a Palestinian nurse born in Jerusalem and who grew up in Haifa, was the second person to be raided. He told Mondoweiss that he is the individual who was accused of “advocating for the annihilation of the State of Israel,” for simply posting a video on Instagram with people chanting the slogan, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
“I left Haifa to escape Israeli apartheid, occupation, and the oppression my people face and studied medicine here in Germany. Yet, since October 2023, we are facing how Germany is endlessly repressing our right to protest on the streets,” Muhammad said.
On the morning of the raid, Muhammad was on his way home from a night shift at the hospital when he realized that the locks of his apartment door had been changed. No document or warrant was left informing him of the raid, but he learned his home had been raided through the Berlin police press release describing his identity and where he lived.
“I called the police, and it was then that they informed me where to receive my new home keys after destroying the lock on my door,” Muhammad said. “My home was a mess as papers were all over the floor and my laptop was taken, yet I was most worried for my cat who was completely traumatized from this situation.”
“All this just because I posted a video where others were chanting ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’ This is absolutely terrifying being in this space, I have no idea what the police placed in my home or who else now knows my address or has copies of my keys.”
October 7 marks the year anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel, and the beginning of the genocide in Gaza. Activists believe that the series of home raids are meant to be an intimidation tactic ahead of the anniversary.
Khaled was visited by the Berlin police in his home again on October 2, this time to inform him that he is forbidden from attending any pro-Palestinian demonstrations from October 5 to October 7. Two other activists have been banned as well.
“I will not be intimidated nor censored by this clear attempt to scare me,” Khaled told Mondoweiss. “The genocide and murder of Palestinians did not start on October 7, there will be another demonstration and another after that.”
On October 2, the right-wing German news publication Bild reported that there will be over an 1,000 officers and armed police present at the demonstrations including “special operations commandos as well as precision marksmen” or in other words, snipers.
Yasemin Acar, who, along with Khaled, is also banned from protesting from October 5-7 told Mondoweiss that she is constantly targeted for her activism: “I do not believe I am a threat to public safety. I am protesting an end to a genocide, I believe the threat, instead, lies with the German government that violates our democratic right to protest.”
“The thing is, the state believes if it simply arrests me time and time again and raids my home, or forbids me from attending protests, that they can put a pause on the movement as if I have influence over people here in Berlin, or that I am mobilizing the masses. No! People are mobilizing on their own, because they see a genocide taking place.” Acar said.
“It has nothing to do with me, but I cannot stop. Germany is fixated on criminalizing us because they do not like to see resilience.”
Hebh Jamal is a Palestinian American journalist from New York City now based in Germany
