Echoes of the Middle East conflict in Germany: three anti-Semites meet

It is slowly becoming confusing who is trying to exploit Palestine solidarity: to the new cross-front of anti-imperialists, Islamists and anti-vaccination groups as well as the discreet silence of the right.

The “Bajszel” in Berlin’s Neukölln district is used to a lot. The pub regularly offers evening events, including critical lectures on the topics of Islamism and anti-Semitism. In times in which both phenomena are massively present, such a forum should actually be valued, but this positioning obviously infuriates some contemporaries. Threatening situations have repeatedly occurred since October 7, 2023. The restaurant was repeatedly daubed with Palestine slogans and red triangles, a symbol borrowed from the Islamist Hamas for “legitimate” goals. This was not without consequences; the operators counted three attacks in September alone and have now announced that in the last attack on the night of September 27th, an attempt was made to set fire to the pub on the ground floor of a residential building. The documentation of the night’s action on social media shows English-language tributes from the Al-Quasam Brigades, the Islamist militia responsible for October 7th, praise for the “resistance” and a commitment to Hamas in Arabic script.