1 June 2019; DW: Some 2,000 protesters are expected to take part in an anti-Israel rally in Germany's capital, Berlin, on Saturday, amid fears that anti-Semitism is on the rise in the country.
The Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) march, whose official title is "For a just peace in Palestine," is to take place despite several calls to have it banned, notably by the head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster.
Ahead of the march, leading German politicians, including President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Family Minister Franziska Giffey, have urged citizens to help fight anti-Semitism in Germany.
Giffey told the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel that "we must all oppose anti-Semitic discrimination, speak out against anti-Semitism and show Jews: We're there for you, we support you."
Counterdemonstrations awaited
Hundreds of counterprotesters are also expected to turn out to express support for Germany's Jewish community, which is facing a growing number of anti-Semitic crimes.
DW reporter Chase Winter said police estimated that about 600 people took to the street in a pro-Israel rally.
The number of attacks against Jews in Germany increased from 1,504 in 2017 to 1,646 in 2018 — a rise of 10%. The number of reported violent cases against Jews rose from 37 to 62 over the same period, according to official figures.
Yarmulke advice
The demonstration comes a week after the German government's anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, warned Jews living in Germany to avoid wearing yarmulkes, head coverings traditionally donned by Jewish males and also known as kippahs, in some public places.
In response to his remarks, the mass-circulation Bild newspaper on Monday printed cut-out yarmulkes, urging its readers to wear them in a show of solidarity with Germany's Jewish community.
Klein has since also called on people to wear yarmulkes in protest at Saturday's Quds Day demonstration.
Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem and means "the holy." Quds Day was proclaimed in 1979 by Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini and marks the occupation of East Jerusalem by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967.
