German Tamils joined mass protests in Berlin to express their condemnation of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and occupation of Palestine.
Tamil Eelam flags were seen being carried by Tamil protesters, for whom the struggles against illegal state occupation and the fight for self-determination are not unfamiliar.
Demonstrators were holding placards, reading “Sheikh Jarrah Ethnic Cleansing”, “Decolonise Palestine From the Genocidal Settler State”, “No Family Reunion since the past 73 Years”, “Palestinians Are Not Numbers” and “The Only Settler Colonialism in the Middle East”.
Below are a few excerpts of a speech delivered by one of the Tamil demonstrators:
“As the Tamil diaspora, we are on the side along with the Palestinian, Kurdish, Armenian and all those displaced ... Because we Tamils know what it means to be humiliated, fought, imprisoned and murdered.”
“The West finds admonishing words and writes a half-hearted declaration from time to time, that is all. This sounds good and has no consequences. Just think of Rojava. The weapons are still being supplied, because this is lucrative, that is how the imperialist world system works. However, if the oppressed fight back “they are declared terrorists, their organizations banned, their members may also be imprisoned in exile”.
“For these are not conflicts on an equal footing: oppressed populations face highly armed and armed to the teeth, regular, state armies. Those who do not see and take this into account are blinded or engage in deliberate disinformation.”
“Resistance is justified, even under international law!”
“We can only achieve this [self-determination] if the oppressed of today stick together, look for alternatives and build a countervailing power for models of society based on solidarity - beyond capitalism! Freedom for Palestine! Freedom for Kurdistan! Freedom for Tamil Eelam!”
The escalation of violence by Israelian police and armed forces against Palestinian civilians, residential buildings and Jerusalem's al Aqsa mosque continue to send shock waves and condemnation across the world. Pro-Palestinian protests also took place on the streets of Paris, Madrid and London, where thousands marched through the capital to the Israeli embassy in Kensington.
