German police clear pro-Palestinian protest camp Greta Thunberg planned to visit

By Timo Kirez

GENEVA (AA) - Swedish activist Greta Thunberg announced her intention to visit a pro-Palestinian protest camp in the German city of Dortmund, prompting police to evacuate the site on Tuesday evening.

“The announced visit by Ms. Thunberg led to the conclusion that there would be more people at the venue than stated in the meeting registration,” police said in a statement.

"After intensive examination as part of a risk assessment, the Dortmund police headquarters ordered the ban and the associated dissolution of the assembly."

It added that the eviction had met “no resistance” and only “seven protesters were present” at the time.

The student group, Students for Palestine, which has been organizing the camp in Dortmund since June, criticized the police action.

“Protests in solidarity with the people of Palestine are obviously no longer covered by the basic rights of this state,” the group said on Instagram.

It accused the police of lying, “only giving the protesters an hour and a half to dismantle the camp,” and asked for help from lawyers.

However, in a video shared by the group on social media, more demonstrators could be seen at the time of eviction.

Thunberg also censured the eviction on X. “After almost four months, the student Palestine camp in Dortmund was forced by the German police to dismantle and leave, and the police said they would arrest me if I went there,” she said.

“We all need to stand up against the repression activists face just for speaking out against the genocide and occupation in Palestine. In Dortmund, throughout Germany and all over the world. We will not be silenced; free Palestine.”

Alexander Throm, domestic policy spokesman for the conservative opposition party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the German parliament, is calling for the Swedish activist to be banned from entering the country.

“Anyone who comes here to incite hatred against Israel and denigrate our police has no business in Germany,” the CDU politician told the Bild daily.

“I think it is not only appropriate, but even necessary, for the federal minister of interior to issue an entry ban against this anti-Semite in the future,” Throm said.

The 21-year-old Swede originally became internationally known as a climate activist. However, since the Israeli war in Gaza last October, she has also increasingly appeared at solidarity rallies for Palestine.

Last month, she was arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest in the Danish capital Copenhagen.