Israel-Hamas war: Pro-Palestinian marches banned and Jewish schools closed amid fears of rising tension in Europe
“I’m terrified,” says Hope. “I’m just scared to leave my home.”
An Israeli living in Berlin for the past 20 years, her world changed in an instant following Hamas’s attack last Saturday.
She said she didn’t sleep for the following three days.
Follow the latest from the conflict as Israel begins its initial ground mission in Gaza
Desperate for updates, she was glued to Israeli news channels while trying to contact loved ones back home.
A week on, reports of rises in antisemitism in parts of Europe and calls by a former Hamas leader for a “Day of Rage” mean Hope is petrified to go out.
“Around the world, Jews and Israelis not being safe – this is something that I have never, ever dreamed of in my entire life,” she tells me.
Her terror is so great that she asked us not to publish her photo or real name for fear of being targeted.
She says she’s heard reports of neighbours leaving knives outside Israelis’ homes.
Although we can’t verify those reports, Hope’s fear isn’t unfounded.
Read more on this story:
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How negotiators will be working to free Hamas hostages
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Gaza evacuations begin
Experts say there’s a pattern of increasing attacks on Jews following escalating violence in the Middle East.
“The risk is particularly high in Germany because antisemites of all political stripes are well-organised in Germany,” explains Aycan Demirel, an antisemitism prevention advisor.
In the hours following Hamas’s attack, Germany, along with France and the UK, quickly increased security around Jewish sites amid fear local communities would be targeted.
Extra police are visible outside the country’s biggest synagogue.
One of the private security officers standing outside tells us some parents are afraid to bring their children to the linked school in case it’s targeted by antisemitic terrorists.
It’s a fear the head of the Jewish Community of Berlin, Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, has heard repeated by his congregation during the past week.
Police officers guard the Rykestrasse Synagogue. Pic: Adam Berry
Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal. Pic: Adam Berry
“People are concerned and worried. [On Friday], there was a call for violence [against Jews], more students didn’t show up than showed up,” he says. “I personally believe that we should not change our lifestyle or what we are doing because that’s exactly what the terrorists want.”
Rabbi Teichtal estimates around 250,000 Jews live in Germany, with 50,000 of them based in Berlin.
He says many are traumatised by the unspeakable violence being reported.
One member of the community told him their grandmother saw a woman being raped and murdered in Israel’s kibbutz of Kfar Aza after Hamas’s unexpected assault from the Gaza Strip.
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Across Europe, leaders are rushing to try to prevent any spillover violence from the Israel-Hamas war.
France, which has Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish populations, has banned all pro-Palestinian protests, using water cannon and tear gas to disperse those defying the order in Paris.
The government said more than 100 antisemitic acts and 2,000 reports had been recorded since Saturday.
In a televised address, President Macron urged the country to stay united, adding the “first duty” was to protect French Jews from attacks and discrimination.
In Amsterdam, three Jewish schools were closed on Friday due to security concerns.
In Spain and Portugal, members of the Jewish community were on high alert after two synagogues were vandalised with pro-Palestine graffiti.
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Inside family home that Hamas attacked
The German chancellor has vowed zero tolerance for antisemitism and banned all activities supporting Hamas’s attack, including using their symbols or burning the Israeli flag.
It follows a police report that hours after Hamas entered Israel, cakes and sweets were handed out at a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin as some seemed to celebrate.
As a result, such rallies have been repeatedly cancelled in the city over public safety fears.
Small, spontaneous protests have sprung up on Sonnenallee, where many Palestinians live, only to be quickly shut down by police.
Pic: Adam Berry
Pro-Palestinian posters destroyed after an effective ban on demonstrations. Pic: Adam Berry
Remnants of posters advertising the events hang from the walls where they’ve been ripped down.
“You can’t carry the Palestinian flag, if you do the police will take it away,” says local resident Mohammed.
He says he doesn’t want to show his face as he “doesn’t want problems with the police”.
“Everyone is really annoyed they’re not allowed to demonstrate,” he adds.
The national flag still flies above some of the streets’ cafes or is painted on to trees.
One man shows me his Palestine Liberation Organisation tattoo, but everyone here is reluctant to give interviews.
“It’s all dark, everything is black,” one resident tells me, describing how demoralised many of his neighbours feel.
Pic: Adam Berry
“Hamas and Palestine have two different flags, but everything is treated as if it’s all Hamas even though one is a country and one is a party.”
He tells me he’s worried for his family stuck in Gaza amid heavy shelling.
“There are innocent people dying on both sides, but I tell people here not to talk to anyone. Anyone who opens their mouth is asking for trouble. They even shut down demonstrations that are for peace,” he says.
Minutes after we finish speaking, we see a large group of police on the street.
Between them are two German left-wing activists.
One is wearing a red and white Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, the other a necklace in the colours of the flag.
They tell us they were stopped on suspicion of handing out pro-Palestinian flyers, which they deny.
A leftist activist named Glenn waits to be released by police officers. Pic: Adam Berry
The man wearing the necklace says his name in Glenn and that he’s a member of Young Struggle, a socialist youth organisation.
He believes the blanket banning of all pro-Palestinian protests is “pure repression” and an attack on free speech.
While they may not agree with each other, his point raises another challenge for democratic governments in Europe.
“If we do not make a clear distinction between pro-Palestinian groups and groups supporting the antisemitic terroristic organisation Hamas, if we do not act against antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism, then this can lead to more hatred and the likelihood of further radicalisation will increase.
“In the long run this will lead to an even greater threat of radicalisation and violence,” explains Rüdiger Jose Hamm, co-managing director of the national committee on religiously motivated extremism.
Back in Berlin, the police finish their inquiries and move on, but there’s an uneasy feeling on the street; the sense the escalating conflict in the Middle East is already stoking fear and tension in communities in Europe.
It is an earthquake for the MAGA ecosystem.
Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene were a formidable alliance on the Republican Party’s hard-right flank.
For years, the congresswoman for Georgia embodied the combative, conspiracy-tinged politics that define Trump’s presidency.
She called him “the father of the America First movement,” campaigned to be his running mate, and was quick to defend him.
“David Cameron can kiss my ass,” she told Sky News when asked about the former UK Prime Minister’s concerns about US fading support for Ukraine.
Door-stepped by my colleague Martha Kelner, she said: “We don’t give a crap about your country or your reporting.
“The Trump administration is doing a great job and I stand by their statements,” she added.
“I’m thankful to President Trump that he is leading us out of wars.”
Watch Sky’s Martha Kelner’s encounter with Taylor Greene from earlier this year…
But in recent months, she had expressed concerns about Trump’s involvement in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere.
It escalated when she stood with victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to demand justice and joined Democrats in demanding a vote on the release of all files.
Just days ago, President Trump told reporters Taylor Greene had “lost her way”, but something triggered a war of words late on Friday.
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‘Shame on everyone that protected Epstein’
The president had taken questions on Air Force One, with two reporters citing Taylor Green’s demand that the files be released.
Moments later, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he was withdrawing his endorsement of the congresswoman.
He branded her a “ranting lunatic”, “wacky Marjorie”, and said all she ever does is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN.”
Her reply came very quickly, in a post claiming she had sent the president text messages about Jeffrey Epstein.
“Apparently this is what sent him over the edge. The Epstein Files,” she posted.
Read more on Jeffrey Epstein:
Ghislaine Maxwell ‘wants Trump to commute sentence’
What Epstein’s right-hand woman said about Trump and Andrew
She accused him of “coming after” her to “scare all the other Republicans” before next week’s vote to release the Epstein files.
“It’s astonishing how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level,” she added.
For years, they were joined at the hip – Trump the movement’s figurehead, Taylor Greene its megaphone – but it has now descended into open hostility.
Epstein, the story that won’t go away, has just cost Trump one of his most loyal allies, and rocked the internal dynamics of his political movement.
At least nine people have been killed and 32 injured after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated inside a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The accidental blast occurred late on Friday in the Nowgam area of Srinagar, as forensic and police personnel were evaluating the explosive material, according to police director-general Nalin Prabhat.
Most of the dead were officers and forensic staff, police said, adding that several of the injured remained in a critical condition.
The massive explosion tore through the police station, setting the building and several vehicles on fire.
“The intensity of the blast was such that some body parts were recovered from nearby houses, around 100-200m away from the police station,” a police source said.
A series of smaller successive blasts slowed rescue operations.
A police official lays flowers on a coffin at a ceremony for the victims. Pic: Reuters
The police station blast comes just days after a deadly car explosion in New Delhi on Monday, which killed at least eight people near the city’s historic Red Fort.
The car explosion occurred hours after police in Kashmir said they had dismantled a suspected militant cell operating from the region, arresting at least seven people, including two doctors from Indian cities.
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Police also seized a large quantity of bomb-making material in Faridabad, near New Delhi.
Indian security forces have conducted multiple raids across Kashmir during their investigation, questioning hundreds and detaining dozens.
Relatives protest following the blast. Pic: Reuters
Authorities said DNA testing identified the car’s driver as a Kashmiri doctor, and government forces demolished his family home in Pulwama district on Thursday night.
In the past, security forces have demolished the homes of individuals they allege were linked to militants opposing Indian rule in Kashmir as a form of punishment.
India and Pakistan both claim all of Kashmir, though each controls only part of the territory.
Militants in the Indian-administered region have been fighting against New Delhi since 1989, with India labeling it Pakistan-backed terrorism.
Pakistan denies the claim, saying that many Kashmiris view it as a legitimate struggle for independence.
World
Donald Trump withdraws support for Marjorie Taylor Greene after she calls for Epstein files to be released
Donald Trump has withdrawn support for Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene – which she claims is over her support for releasing files about Jeffrey Epstein.
In comments made on Truth Social, Mr Trump said he would support any challenger who wants to take Ms Greene’s seat in Georgia.
It comes after weeks of the MAGA ally breaking ranks from the president – and according to a post on X after his withdrawal, she believes it’s over a possible vote on releasing all of the Epstein files.
Read more: Marjorie Taylor Greene – the MAGA ally known for embracing conspiracies and insulting journalists
After the US government shutdown ended, a petition to vote on the full release of the files about disgraced pedophile financier Epstein received enough signatures – including Ms Greene’s – to bring it to a vote in the House of Representatives.
While such a vote does not yet have a date, Mr Trump has called the files a “hoax” and accused the Democrats of using them “to try and deflect from their disastrous SHUTDOWN”.
Earlier this week, thousands of documents from Epstein were released, which reference Mr Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Peter Mandelson, among others.
Read more: What do Epstein documents say about Trump, Andrew and Mandelson?
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The new Epstein files: The key takeaways
Trump attacks ‘Wacky’ Majorie
In his post on Truth Social overnight, Mr Trump said: “all I see “Wacky” Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!
“It seemed to all begin when I sent her a Poll stating that she should not run for Senator, or Governor, she was at 12%, and didn’t have a chance (unless, of course, she had my Endorsement – which she wasn’t about to get!).”
The president went on to claim “she has told many people that she is upset that I don’t return her phone calls anymore”, before adding: “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.
“I understand that wonderful, Conservative people are thinking about primarying Marjorie in her District of Georgia, that they too are fed up with her and her antics and, if the right person runs, they will have my Complete and Unyielding Support.”
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Will new Epstein emails hurt Trump?
Greene: Trump’s fight to stop files ‘astonishing’
Around an hour later, Ms Greene responded on X to say “President Trump just attacked me and lied about me”, and shared text messages to him and a White House aide about releasing information on the deceased pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
“Of course he’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files,” she added on social media.
“It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level.”
Read more: Why this is dangerous terrain for Trump
Marjorie Taylor Greene was an ardent supporter of MAGA and became a Republican Congresswoman in 2021. File pic: AP
She then said “most Americans wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America… that’s what I voted for”.
“I have supported President Trump with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him,” she added.
“But I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump… I remain the same today as I’ve always been and I will continue to pray this administration will be successful because the American people desperately deserve what they voted for.”
Watch Sky’s Martha Kelner’s encounter with Greene from earlier this year…
Earlier this week, Mr Trump accused the MAGA loyalist of “catering to the other side” after she criticised his focus on foreign policy, which she described as “America Last”.
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Trump rebukes MAGA ally over foreign policy
Epstein took his own life in prison in 2019 while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking charges and was accused of running a “vast network” of underage girls for sex. He pleaded not guilty.
Following a conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008, he was registered as a sex offender.
It comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee published several emails, which they said “raises questions about Trump and Epstein’s relationship, Trump’s knowledge of Epstein’s crimes”, and the president’s relationship to Epstein’s victims.
Mr Trump has consistently denied knowledge of Epstein’s crimes and called claims linking him to the financier a “hoax”.
Read more on Jeffrey Epstein:
Ghislaine Maxwell ‘wants Trump to commute sentence’
What Epstein’s right-hand woman said about Trump and Andrew
The White House also said the “selectively leaked emails” were an attempt to “create a fake narrative to smear President Trump”.
Republicans retaliated by releasing more than 20,000 pages from Epstein’s files and accusing Democrats of “cherry-picking” their documents.
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