The Al-Quds Day march in Berlin has been canceled for the third year in a row. The organizers of the April 15 demonstration withdrew their registration, the Berlin police told Jüdische Allgemeine.
It was the third time in as many years that the march has been banned. The event was also canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The march, held on the last last Friday of Ramadan and organized by the Iranian government, is an event calling for the conquest of Jerusalem that features anti-Israel and antisemitic groups and speakers. At a 2019 Toronto march a sign was seen alluding to the 7th Century Khaybar massacre of Jews in the Arabian Peninsula, according to B’nai Brith who described the march as a “hatefest.”
"The cancellation of the Al Quds demonstration by the organizers is good. But we shouldn't delude ourselves that the thinking and the hate behind it will just disappear like that,” Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said.
In 2020, the Al-Quds Day rally cancellation was proceeded by a national ban on terror group Hezbollah.
Al Quds Day, which protests the establishment of the state of Israel, was established in 1979 by Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Since then, his followers have marked the day in cities around the world with large Muslim populations, during or shortly after Ramadan.
Anti-Israel and antisemitic chants are regularly made at the annual march.
“The Al-Quds march is dominated by antisemitism and hatred of Israel,” Schuster said in 2021, according to Jüdische Allgemeine. “The participants unscrupulously exploited the freedom of expression and assembly to spread their hatred… This must finally come to an end.”
According to Berlin police, 2,000 demonstrators had been expected at this year’s Al-Quds Day rally. A nationwide ban on the hateful demonstrations has been frequently discussed over the years it has taken place in Germany.
"I don't want such antisemitic events to take place in Berlin. All legal possibilities must be exhausted to make something like this impossible in our city,” Berlin's Senator for the Interior, Iris Spranger, told the German daily Der Tagesspiegel.