BERLIN — What began as a modest Thursday rally in central Berlin ended with Kitty O’Brien, a 25-year-old Irish protester, leaving in an ambulance — their arm broken, their nose bloodied, and their future as a costume designer suddenly uncertain.
O’Brien, who uses they/them pronouns, had joined a demonstration on August 28 with the Irish Bloc Berlin, a small collective of expatriates who regularly march in solidarity with Palestinians. They expected a routine protest. Instead, they say, they were met by a phalanx of officers. “There were basically twice as many police as protesters,” O’Brien recalled.
According to O’Brien, a shouting exchange escalated when an officer punched them repeatedly. Pulled from the crowd, they say the same officer snapped their arm. “I just heard a loud crunching and knew something wasn’t right,” O’Brien said. Doctors have since warned of possible permanent nerve damage in their right hand — a devastating prospect for someone whose livelihood depends on sewing, stitching, and delicate craftsmanship.
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Video from the scene shows officers confronting demonstrators, who had gathered in Berlin’s Mitte district without prior authorisation to denounce Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza. Police later reported detaining 94 people and opening 96 investigations, including one against O’Brien, on charges of resisting and insulting officers. Authorities have said the incident is under internal review to determine whether the officer’s actions were “proportionate.”
Germany has long faced criticism for its heavy-handed policing of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Campaigners accuse authorities of systematically targeting activists of Arab, Palestinian, and Black or brown backgrounds, as well as allies. “The brutality is not random,” O’Brien said. “It’s because we are standing beside brown people.”
Berlin’s policing of Palestinian solidarity has become a flashpoint in wider debates over Germany’s unwavering support for Israel. Between 2019 and 2023, Germany supplied nearly a third of Israel’s major arms imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Arms exports were halted only this summer, under mounting international pressure.
O’Brien’s case has drawn particular attention because of its human cost: a young foreign worker injured in a city that prides itself on tolerance and free speech. Yet O’Brien insists the assault has only deepened their resolve. “There’s nothing that’s not worth risking to stop this genocide,” they said.
In Berlin, the streets remain contested ground — where solidarity, identity, and state power collide with bruising force.