A Palestinian cultural festival funded by the Berlin city government was canceled after authorities determined that promotional materials included imagery associated with Hamas, following intervention by the Israeli Embassy in the German capital.
The festival, titled Palestine in Berlin, had been scheduled to take place over the weekend and was organized by a local Palestinian association with municipal funding. Invitations to the event featured inverted red triangles, a symbol that German authorities and security officials associate with Hamas propaganda following the Oct. 7 attacks and with online incitement to antisemitic violence.
After the event was publicized, the Israeli Embassy in Berlin posted a sharply worded message on the social media platform X, criticizing the use of public funds for an event that, it said, incorporated symbols linked to Hamas. The embassy called on the organizers to publicly and unequivocally distance themselves from Hamas and urged public bodies funding the festival to withdraw their support.
The post sparked public debate in Berlin and prompted city officials to reexamine the event. At the same time, the embassy contacted senior officials in the mayor’s office and held discussions with a member of the Bundestag from the governing coalition. Those channels engaged with authorities in Berlin’s Reinickendorf district, where the festival was to be held.
After reviewing the case, district officials concluded that the use of the symbol violated regulations and decided to prohibit the event. Germany’s mass-circulation newspaper Bild later reported that the embassy’s intervention played a central role in triggering the review that led to the cancellation.
The cancellation extended beyond the event itself. An Islamic association called Salam, which was set to host the festival, sent a formal message to the embassy apologizing to it and to the Jewish community, saying it had not been aware of the meaning of the symbol used in the promotional materials.
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor welcomed the decision, saying a policy of zero tolerance toward any attempt to normalize Hamas ideology was beginning to show results.
“This policy, set by Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, is not limited to this single case and takes on added significance when a festival is planned just days before International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” Prosor said in a statement. “Our principle is clear: Yes to freedom of expression, no to freedom to incite.”