Berlin has banned the inverted red triangle symbol due to its use by Hamas and their supporters to mark enemy targets in videos and graffiti.
The motion passed in the state senate said the scarlet arrow icon represents an immediate threat to Jews and to people committed to the freedom and security of Israel and should be banned at protests and in the context of the Middle East conflict.
The symbol has been used to target pro-Israel academics and politicians, including Kai Wegner, the Berlin mayor who ordered the eviction of pro-Palestine protesters from the city’s Free University by police.
“Kai will pay” was graffitied on the wall of a university under a red triangle.
A vote passed in the state senate with the support of the ruling Christian Democrat and Social Democrat grand coalition. The state parliament also wants to assist in passing the law on a federal level.
The red triangle was originally used by the Nazis in concentration camps as a symbol for communists, but since the Israeli ground operation in Gaza it has been used by Palestinian militant groups including the Islamist Hamas to mark targets such as Israeli tanks in propaganda videos. It is taken from the Palestinian flag, which contains a red triangle.
