Pro-Palestine march in Germany amidst anti-Semitism concerns

Against the backdrop of growing concerns over the rise in anti-semitic crimes in Germany, an estimated 2000 pro-Palestinian protesters on Saturday (local time) marched through the streets of Berlin as part of the annual al-Quds Day.

According to a report by DW news agency, protestors raised slogans of "Child murderer Israel" and " "Zionism is racism," and carried placards that read "Free Gaza" and "Palestine will be reborn!"

The rally holds significance as it reflects the ongoing debates within Germany around anti-semitism. In a recent interview to CNN, the country's chancellor Angela Merkel acknowledged that the issue continues to be a problem even seven decades after the end of Holocaust, in which more than six million Jews lost their lives.

"We have always had a certain amount of antisemites among us," said Merkel. "Unfortunately there is to this day not a single synagogue, not a single daycare centre for Jewish children, not a single school for Jewish children that do not need to be guarded by German policemen."

Speaking on the same, Germany's Anti-Semitism Commissioner Felix Klein told DW "It's absolutely unacceptable that, in 2019, we hear anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish slogans in Germany.""We should all stand up against that. We should unite as German society, and say that we do not accept any form of anti-Semitism here," he added.

The al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) rally, officially titled "For a Just Peace in Palestine," was started in Iran in 1979 and traditionally takes place on the last day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, reports Sputnik.

During a similar rally on Friday in Iran's capital city of Tehran, protesters burned the Israeli flag and effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to express their discontent with Israel's claim to Jerusalem.