BERLIN
Giant portraits of Gaza’s children were displayed in front of the German federal parliament on Wednesday to draw attention to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.
As part of a demonstration organized by the Avaaz platform titled “Looking into the eyes of Gaza’s children,” 10 large photographs of injured children from Gaza were displayed in front of the Bundestag.
Signs reading “They are just children” and “Can we look into the eyes of Gaza’s children?” were also displayed at the site. Some demonstrators were seen leaving toys in front of the photographs.
Christoph Schott from the Avaaz platform told Anadolu that they organized this protest to bring “the humanity and vulnerability of Gaza’s children” directly to the heart of Germany’s capital.
Schott called for an end to the German government’s supportive stance toward the Israeli government’s military campaign, saying that merely criticizing the situation in Gaza is insufficient.
He emphasized that Berlin must take meaningful action, and increase its political and economic pressure on Tel Aviv.
“We think that Germany’s historical responsibility is to protect all lives, no matter where they are in danger. Therefore, we expect that Germany will first stop supplying weapons to Israel, and second, suspend the special economic treatment of Israel as part of the EU agreement,” he said.
Schott underlined that Germany should pressure the Netanyahu government to agree for a ceasefire and work towards a diplomatic solution.
“The German government must take stronger action to pressure Israel for an immediate ceasefire—one that doesn’t merely last 60 days but leads to a long-term peace where Palestinians can live in peace again, can live in dignity, where their children have food, have medicine, and can go to school again. Simply be children again,” he said.