HUNDREDS gathered in eastern Berlin over the weekend for a conference demanding an end to German militarisation, freedom for Palestine and resistance to the government’s attacks on democratic rights.

Denied access to the large Dortmund park in which German Communist Party (DKP) weekly Unsere Zeit traditionally held its press festival, party leader Patrik Kobele said organisers determined to take the message of peace to the heart of the German capital.

But such is the climate of repression around the peace movement that he was unsurprised to be warned against public chants of “Free Palestine” or “Viva Palestina” by representatives of German left party Die Linke when hiring the venue, and told observers would be monitoring the sessions.

German police broke up a Palestine solidarity conference in the capital in April, cutting electricity from the venue, bursting in and telling hundreds of attendees to disperse because it was addressed by video-link by a speaker accused of glorifying Hamas.

Undeterred, when Mr Kobele introduced guests from Palestine on the main stage, the crowd erupted in calls of “Free, free Palestine.”

Ordinary Germans were paying for their ruling class’s determination to build a war economy through crumbling schools and hospitals and falling wages, he warned, while big business offshored manufacturing to the United States to avoid soaring energy prices caused by the EU’s sanctions on Russia.

The Peace Days festival saw two days of music, debates and seminars, including on Nato, China and developments in British politics, the last addressed by representatives of the Communist Party of Britain and the Morning Star.