GERMANY: Lebanese and Palestinians stage an anti-Israeli protest at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate

More than 1,000 Lebanese and Palestinians staged an anti-Israeli protest at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Monday (July 17), police said. A Reuters witness said demonstrators were chanting "death to Israel" and "death to Zionists", while some carried placards bearing the image of Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Police said around 1,200 people took part in the protest at the German capital's famous landmark, not far from a major memorial to the millions of Jews killed in the Holocaust. Waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags, the protesters demanded Israel stop the "attacks on Arab territories," according to one young man who refused to give his name and said he represented Berlin's Arab community. "We only want to achieve one thing, that human rights are respected all over the world," said the man who declined to identify himself. "There are rights which have been put in place by the United Nations and other international organisations which the state of Israel does not adhere to." The demonstration came as a host of countries were evacuating their nationals from Lebanon to escape Israeli air strikes which have pounded the country for six days. Israel bombarded Lebanon for a sixth day on Monday after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid last week. Hizbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel.

ITN Source | July 18, 2006

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