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File: Protesters attend a pro-Palestinian rally on Quds Day in Berlin, Friday, July 25, 2014 (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Berlin banned the annual anti-Israel Quds Day march this year, the first time the city has taken a stand against the event since it became a local tradition in 1996.
Quds Day, which protests the establishment of the state of Israel, was established in 1979 by Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Since then, his followers have marked the day in cities around the world with large Muslim populations, during or shortly after Ramadan.
Jewish and pro-Israel groups have tried for years to have the march banned as a purely antisemitic demonstration. It is illegal in Germany to call for the destruction of Israel.