German opposition politicians and campaigners have urged the Irish government to increase pressure on Berlin’s state government over the police approach to pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
Irish Berlin-based activist Kitty O’Brien is recovering in hospital after being struck by a police officer at a solidarity demonstration over Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza.
A short video clip of the Berlin demonstration shows an officer punching Ms O’Brien twice in the face, causing bleeding. Ms O’Brien sustained other injuries requiring surgery and remains in hospital.
The incident has prompted expressions of concern from Ireland, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin saying he was “deeply concerned” by such an “unacceptable” assault.
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Politicians and Palestinian campaigners in Berlin say the attack is not an isolated incident, but reflects a policing approach that has the full support of Berlin’s city-state government.
“Governing mayor Kai Wegener is giving his backing to the hard-line approach towards demonstrators,” said Vassily Franco, opposition Green Party state politician.
Mr Wegener has “refused any investigation” into similar cases in the past, added Mr Franco, “therefore I welcome the intervention of the Irish embassy”.
For German-Moroccan writer and activist Mohamed Amjahid, the attack on Ms O’Brien represents a “new escalation” of police-demonstrator clashes since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel.
The post-October 7th approach of police here reflects in turn, he said, deep-rooted structural and systematic violence in the police force.
The German ambassador to Ireland, David Gill, told the Irish Times that ‘the video is really awful’
“They have been given carte blanche to do whatever they want and a lot of police officers feel, individually and collectively, very safe in punching somebody with no consequences,” said Mr Amjahid, author of a book about police violence, Alles nur Einzelfälle (All just one-offs).
Unlike other European countries, Germany has no police ombudsman or external affairs office with investigatory powers. Instead, police officers investigate their colleagues, with formal complaints rarely resulting in legal proceedings.
“I know Ireland and Northern Ireland have an administration that looks into cases of police violence, but we have nothing like that here,” said Mr Amjahid. Given that the incident had been filmed and involved another EU citizen, he added, “if the Irish government and Irish embassy follow it, maybe it will give things another framing in Berlin, where the city government is very pro-police”.
The German ambassador to Ireland, David Gill, told the Irish Times that “the video is really awful”.
Governing mayor Kai Wegener is giving his backing to the hard-line approach towards demonstrators
Irish ambassador Maeve Collins was unavailable for interview on Monday, as was the Irish campaign group of which Kitty O’Brien is a member.
The case – in particular the footage – has spread widely in German-speaking Europe, with coverage in all major German, Swiss and Austrian news outlets and newspapers.
In total, 70 women and 24 men were detained after clashes at the unofficial demonstration in central Berlin, while 96 investigations have been launched.
A Berlin police spokesman said no preliminary investigation had been launched against the officer seen punching Ms O’Brien in the video, but a probe was under way into “whether the behaviour was appropriate”.
