Berlin has banned the inverted red triangle symbol due to its use by Hamas and their supporters to mark enemy targets in videos and graffiti.
The motion passed in the state senate said the scarlet arrow icon represents an immediate threat to Jews and to people committed to the freedom and security of Israel and should be banned at protests and in the context of the Middle East conflict.
The symbol has been used to target pro-Israel academics and politicians, including Kai Wegner, the Berlin mayor who ordered the eviction of pro-Palestine protesters from the city’s Free University by police.
“Kai will pay” was graffitied on the wall of a university under a red triangle.
The German capital has the largest Palestinian population in Europe and has been a flashpoint for the conflict since the October 7 atrocity, with pro-Palestine protests being initially banned and protesters arrested. Germany’s government is a strong supporter of Israel, with Israel’s security sometimes described as part of Germany’s Staatsräson or reason of state.
A vote passed in the state senate with the support of the ruling Christian Democrat and Social Democrat grand coalition and the far-Right AfD. The state parliament also wants to assist in passing the law on a federal level.
The opposition criticised the motion as going too far, with blanket bans of symbols being legally and constitutionally questionable, argued Green politician Vasili Franco.
The red triangle was originally used by the Nazis in concentration camps as a symbol for communists, but since the Israeli ground operation in Gaza it has been used by Palestinian militant groups including the Islamist Hamas to mark targets such as Israeli tanks in propaganda videos. It is taken from the Palestinian flag, which contains a red triangle.
Niklas Schrader, a deputy from the Left party, warned that banning this could inadvertently make other organisations illegal.
The association of victims of Nazi persecution use the symbol on their flag alongside prisoner stripes, which has even been seen flying at pro-Israel demonstrations, meaning the ban may not be legally straightforward.
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