Overview

• Unregistered pro-Palestine protesters and congregants engaged in scuffles outside Martinskirche during Sunday services on July 6–7.
• Police and the state security service have launched investigations into the violent encounter along with earlier antisemitic defamation and vandalism.
• Landesbischof Ernst-Wilhelm Gohl and Ulmer Prälatin Gabriele Wulz accused municipal and county officials of neglect and demanded concrete safety steps.
• Pastor Ralf Sedlak and his family have faced personal insults, threats and antisemitic graffiti since he read a solidarity message for Israeli victims in October 2023.
• The conflict at Martinskirche highlights growing polarization in Germany over the Israel–Hamas war and challenges in protecting freedom of religious expression.