Hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Berlin: Stop arms exports to Israel!

Hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Berlin: Stop arms exports to Israel!

Today, September 27, 2025, massive protests against Israel's warfare in the Gaza Strip took place in Berlin. Around 20,000 people gathered in front of the Red Town Hall, while the organizers estimated that the subsequent rally at the Großer Stern had over 100,000 participants. Police estimated the crowd at around 60,000. There was also a smaller demonstration in Kreuzberg, in which around 1,200 people took part. Around 1,800 police officers were deployed across the city to monitor the situation. This large demonstration was organized by an alliance of around 50 organizations, including groups such as Medico International, Amnesty International and the Left Party. According to ZDF, the protesters demanded an immediate stop to German arms exports to Israel as well as access for humanitarian aid to Gaza and EU sanctions against Israel.

Publicly, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has been described as critical, with reports of acute famine. Among those who took part in the demonstration was Michael Barenboim, a Jewish musician and co-initiator who accused the Palestinians of genocide. Ines Schwerdtner, the federal chairwoman of the Left, declared that genocide was being committed in Gaza and sharply criticized the federal government's inaction. Slogans such as “Free, free Palestine” and “High international solidarity” were called for, while many participants carried posters with demands such as “Gaza – Stop the massacre” and “Freedom for Palestine”.

Background of the conflict

The ongoing protests come in the context of the Gaza war, which was triggered by a terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which approximately 1,200 people were killed. In return, fighting flared up in Gaza, where around 65,000 Palestinians have now been killed, according to the Hamas-controlled health authority. There are currently 48 hostages in Gaza, 20 of whom, according to Israeli information, are alive. The Israeli government, on the other hand, firmly rejects the allegations of genocide and emphasizes that enough food is being brought to the Gaza Strip.

Parallel to the protests in Berlin, there were also rallies in Tel Aviv. According to [Spiegel](https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/israel-gaza-krieg-proteste-in-tel-aviv-gegen-humanitaere-kritik-im-gaza Stripen-a-2c253b3f-c9c9-4dec-8264-79af20f95bd3), people there demonstrated against the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. These international protests highlight global concern about the situation of civilians in the conflict zone and show that the issue has not lost its importance in the public eye and on the political agenda.