04/03/2024
Rainbow flags were on display alongside many other banners from across the political spectrum as more than two hundred thousand people took to the streets of Germany in a protest against the far right Alliance fur Deutschland Party, which has at times in recent weeks, been polling at more than twenty per cent of the electorate. The Guardian newspaper reported that "Roughly 150,000 people flocked to the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin, where protesters gathered under the slogan “We are the Firewall” to protest against right-wing extremism and to show support for democracy." Protests took place across other cities as well. Jakob Springfeld, who speaks for the NGO Solidarity Network Saxony, said he was shocked that it had taken such a long time for mass demonstrations against the far right, given the AfD had been successful in many smaller communities already. “But there’s a jolt now. And the fact that the jolt is coming provides hope I believe,” he said. The German news channel Deutsche Welle reported that "millions of Germans have taken a stand against right-wing extremism. The number of organizations calling for Berliners to protest has grown to well over 1,800. Among them are prominent civil society associations, including all major charities and many committed albeit little known activists."
