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Instead of the “Classic Days” auto show, Berlin will host an anti-Jewish Al-Quds day demonstration, lamented the car show’s organizer.
By United with Israel Staff
Authorities in Berlin forced the cancellation of the 7th annual “Classic Days” auto show in order for an Al-Quds anti-Jewish demonstration to take place, according to the car show’s organizer. The events were slated to take place in Berlin’s main shopping district.
According to a report by the German website B.Z., “the anti-Jewish Al-Quds day demonstration was permitted by the authorities at the same time” as the auto show.
“It’s a shame for Berlin,” said auto show organizer Frank Peppel. “Several hundred thousand visitors have to give way to radicals who protest against Jews.”
Peppel applied for the required permit last May, he said. Authorities did not respond until six months later, on January 7. They said that Al-Quds day takes precedence over the auto show, said Peppel.
Peppel said 26,000 classic car owners were already invited to the event and he had collected 400,000 euros from registrants, according to EN24 news.
“There are global players like Lamborghini, Volvo or Audi,” he said. “They come with containers and lots of employees. I can’t just postpone that.”
Participants in the Berlin anti-Israel rally stem from terror groups like Hezbollah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. German neo-Nazis join as well. Fiery speeches against Israel and “Zionists” are presented. It is not uncommon for crowds to chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”
Though Germany’s Jewish community as well as the Israeli and American governments have asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Berlin mayor Michael Müller to ban the hate-filled demonstration, they ignored the pleas, according to The Jerusalem Post.
In 2019, Israel’s Ambassador to Germany, Jeremy Issacharoff spoke at a demonstration against the Al-Quds gathering. He tweeted about the event, “This blatantly anti-Semitic and hateful event should be banned. Iran as the leading sponsor of terror, a serial abuser of human rights that seeks to undermine any chance for ME [Middle East] peace has no place in Berlin.”
Al-Quds day has taken place worldwide since 1979. It was first suggested by Ebrahim Yazdi, the first foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian Revolution, as an annual anti-Zionist day of protest.
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