Analysis
The German left called 50,000 to the streets, for the first time ‘against genocide’
‘We have all the information needed to be able to use this term.’ ‘Together for Gaza’ and ‘Against genocide’ were the twin slogans of the extraordinary demonstration that brought 50,000 Germans to Berlin on Saturday.
Finally, Saturday brought a major street protest by Germany’s Die Linke party for Palestine. The party’s top leaders were at the front, ready, for the first time, to call what’s happening by its true name – the “G-word” that until three months ago was taboo even within the party.
“Together for Gaza” and “Against genocide” were the twin slogans of the extraordinary demonstration that brought 50,000 Germans to Berlin on Saturday, no longer willing to tolerate the CDU-SPD government’s complicity in Netanyahu’s crimes. These two slogans are also the sign of an unequivocal, historic and courageous political shift for the left in a country where the Staatsräson (reason of state) in favor of Israel stands above the law and where those who dissent pay a hefty price.
While the turn does come late compared to the rest of Europe, the German left is breaking with a previously unquestionable paradigm, with all the more audacity for it. Politically, it is a sharp rebuke to the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz. It is no longer just ex-Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht labeling the “dirty work” that Israel is supposedly doing on behalf of the West (as Chancellor Merz put it) as genocide. Now, Die Linke, the only opposition party in the Bundestag that is growing in the polls (apart from the far-right AfD) is doing so as well.
Since Saturday, there are no more qualms about calling the events in Gaza a genocide in Germany, and those who arm Israel “accomplices.” The spotlight is now fully on Palestine, thanks in large part to the civil society movement – from Amnesty to Attac, Palestinian NGOs and Jewish Voices for Peace, along with trade unions and ethnic communities – which joined the march in high numbers through the heart of Berlin, from Wilhelmstrasse to the Victory Column.
“All Eyes on Gaza” was the call that brought together all of the day's demonstrations, with a final rally at 9 p.m., which concluded with a concert featuring artists like K.I.Z., Ski Aggu, Pashanim, and the “Jewish voice” of musician Michael Barenboim.
The 1,850 police officers deployed in Berlin found it impossible this time to prevent, disperse, or even divert the enormous procession that passed through the city center. Tourists, confined behind barriers, were seen breaking into spontaneous applause. There were no protests from motorists stuck in traffic jams either, which is also unprecedented.
Only one contingent of 1,200 people that started in the Kreuzberg district was stopped before reaching the main rally because, as the police reported together with pro-Tel Aviv media like the newspaper Bild, “an anti-Semitic slogan was shouted.”
The message that reached the German public, however, was that of Ines Schwerdtner, the president of Die Linke and the first signatory of the party's appeal against genocide, who marched at the front of the demonstration.
“We have all the information needed to be able to use this term,” she said bluntly. “The situation in Gaza has been worsening for many months, but only now have we been able to organize this response. Many young people have taken a political position on this issue in recent weeks,” she answered for the benefit of those asking what had changed. She had said the same in her interview with Berliner Zeitung just hours before the rally, the first time she used the “G-word” (the “V-word” in German, Völkermord).
The 50,000 people who took to the streets shared her view, whether they came for the “Zusammen für Gaza” (Together for Gaza) rally called by the party at Alexanderplatz – in front of the city hall building, where an Israeli flag flies over the entrance – or in response to the “All Eyes on Gaza” call put out by the non-partisan (but not apolitical) coalition of associations.
Saturday's demonstration comes after a successful one organized two weeks ago by Sahra Wagenknecht's BSW party, which can claim to have been the first national pro-Palestine event. “But this was not a one-person show,” Die Linke’s leaders were keen to point out, stressing the distance between the parties even as they share this common cause.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/la-palestina-sopra-berlino-50mila-in-corteo-con-la-linke on 2025-09-28