Heavy police presence planned for Saturday Middle East protest in Bern

Police from several cantons at the Middle East demo in Bern on Saturday Keystone-SDA

Police in Bern plan a major deployment for an unauthorised Middle East protest on Saturday, aided by emergency teams from other cantons to protect the public and critical sites.

The city of Bern had asked the groups calling for the demonstration to submit an application. However, no contact has yet been made by potential organisers, the police wrote on Thursday.

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There will be traffic restrictions in the city centre, particularly in the area of the railway station and around Bundesplatz. Closures are also possible. The population should therefore “plan more time for travelling into the city”.

There have been a number of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Bern in recent months. Most recently, demonstrators temporarily blocked several railway tracks at Bern station at the beginning of October.

On 24 May, an unauthorised Gaza demonstration in Bern escalated. The police used tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon against the demonstrators. According to police reports, six police officers and two demonstrators were injured.

Translated from German by DeepL/ds

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