Overview
- The Administrative Court of Berlin held that dissolving and prohibiting the April 12–14, 2024 Palestine Congress was disproportionate because police did not seriously consider less intrusive measures such as excluding specific speakers (Az.: VG 1 K 187/24).
- The suit was brought by the group Jüdische Stimme; police had halted the event after a video address by a figure under a political activity ban, and courts have since found at least some such bans unlawful.
- In a separate case, the court found a police ban on using the motto “From the river to the sea, you will get the hug you need” for a December 2023 gathering unlawful and stressed that assessments must be context-specific rather than automatic.
- Police leaders testified they acted due to a charged atmosphere and concerns about potential offenses, but judges said alternatives to a blanket shutdown were not adequately examined.
- A new Transnational Institute report released this week describes a broader pattern of restrictions on Palestine solidarity in Germany—including protest bans, alleged police violence, and administrative tools like IHRA-based naturalization checks and visa refusals—characterizing the country as a laboratory for criminalization.