A German court on Wednesday upheld a ban imposed by police in two cities on chanting the slogan “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free,” citing its association with the Hamas terrorist group and its satellite Samidoun association.
The Düsseldorf Administrative Court issued the ruling on petitions by anti-Israel activists in Duisburg and Düsseldorf over police enforcement of a ban on chanting the slogan at rallies in December and April, the DPA news agency reported.
Samidoun Deutschland and Hamas have adopted the slogan “through constant practice,” and “this means that its use is fundamentally prohibited,” the court ruled.
Germany’s Interior Ministry on Nov. 2 banned all Hamas activities as well as Samidoun and its front association HIRAK, which it ordered dissolved.
German police have refused to authorize anti-Israel rallies in Duisburg and Düsseldorf, citing the likelihood of the slogan being chanted, thereby violating the ban on Hamas and Samidoun activities.
The anti-Israel petitioners included several other slogans they said the police had banned, including “Israeli crimes against the Gaza Strip”; “Stop the genocide”; “Yallah intifada” and “Israel child killer.” The court said these slogans were legal and that police did not have legal grounds to ban them.
The petitioners may appeal the ruling on petitions 18K3322/24 and 18K8760/23 at the Higher Administrative Court for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Münster.