German police storming of Pro-Palestinian conference protested in London

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - A protest was staged Friday in London to protest German police for storming a Pro-Palestinian event in Berlin and the treatment of a renowned British-Palestinian doctor.

Dozens gathered outside of the German Embassy in a demonstration held by the Health Workers 4 Palestine group to denounce Germany and in solidarity with Palestinians.

Carrying Palestinian flags and pro-Palestine signs, the group chanted: "Germany you can't hide, we charge you with genocide" as well as "Stop arming Israel," and "Stop the genocide."

British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta was deported after being held up by federal police at a Berlin airport and prevented from entering Germany where he went to attend the Palestine Congress conference.

Abu Sitta told the crowd in London that what happened in Germany was to silence the voices of witnesses to the crimes in Gaza.

"They are no different than any common gang. One does the killing the other one does the burial and the other one gets rid of the evidence," he said.

He was invited to address the conference about his work in Gaza hospitals during the present conflict.

Until his return to the UK in November, Abu Sitta helped wounded Palestinians for weeks in Gaza, including at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital and the Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

He said the international response to the effort of "trying to silence Palestinian voices, has backfired."

"What could have just been a local event of a conference on Palestine has now become the focus of the world's attention. They will not silence us. They will never silence us," said the war surgeon.

"What they're trying to do is get us to unsee what we have seen," he added, referring to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza as he has a first-hand account of what has been happening there from inside hospitals.

Andrew Feinstein, a one-time key figure in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), who now lives in Britain, addressed the demonstration and protested Germany for its support to Israel.

Feinstein, the son of a Holocaust survivor, said Germany committed two genocides in the past, one in Namibia and the other with the Holocaust in World War II.

As many participants feared, Berlin police broke up the Palestine Congress in Berlin on Friday, less than two hours after the event began.

Dozens of police officers stormed the meeting, cutting off the livestream transmission and electricity in the hall.

A police official ordered the 250 participants to leave the hall, spurring strong shouts of protest by the crowd.