Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Leftists disrupt German rally, pelt officials with paint, Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 14:59:57 EST Message-ID: \SE A \SS (WS) \HD Leftists disrupt German rally, pelt officials with paint, eggs \BY Mark Heinrich \CR REUTERS NEWS AGENCY \DT BERLIN BERLIN - Chancellor Helmut Kohl joined more than 350,000 Germans in an unprecedented show of unity against racist violence, but the rally was marred by leftists who hurled paint and eggs at government leaders. Riot police charged into the crowd to deal with the estimated 400 militants after they showered the speaker's stage with projectiles. Some hit President Richard von Weizsaecker, forcing him to interrupt a speech and take cover. The leftists also threw projectiles at Mr. Kohl, members of his Cabinet and opposition leaders seated beside the stage in Berlin's Lustgarten Square, but these fell short. After a 15-minute pause, Mr. Weizsaecker finished his address. The rally was an unprecedented outpouring of popular concern over the resurgence of the twin demons of German history - Nazi-style xenophobic violence and anti-Semitism - since the nation's reunification in 1990. Rightist violence, particularly attacks against foreigners, has raised fears about the stability of postwar democracy in Germany. Rally organizers lamented the leftist disturbance but said the vast majority had achieved their goal. "Many people took part who had never taken part in a demonstration before," said Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen. "This was a great success and a milestone, showing Germans will not tolerate xenophobia." Mr. Kohl condemned the militants for disrupting the rally, saying they had "tried to soil the image of people demonstrating peacefully against violence." "The mob wanted to damage the worldwide image of Berlin and Germany. They will not succeed," he said in a statement issued through a spokesman in Berlin. Mr. Weizsaecker had to stop his address after the leftists started bellowing "Hypocrites" over government plans to curb political asylum rights in Germany's constitution, a response to a recent mass influx of foreign migrants. He could continue speaking only after riot police with shields lined up in front of him to deflect eggs and paint-filled bags while other officers stormed into the crowd to repulse the militants. Rightists have made 1,800 attacks on foreigners this year, sometimes cheered on by bystanders. Eleven persons have died in the violence. Government and police reaction to the violence have been sluggish. Mr. Kohl and top aides avoided participating in previous, small anti-racism rallies in what critics said was a cynical strategy to avoid alienating right-wing voters. Mr. Kohl did not speak at yesterday's gathering and vanished as soon as it was over. Two columns of marchers, joined by politicians and German Jewish community leader Ignatz Bubis, wound their way from starting points in the two halves of the once-divided city to meet in Lustgarten Square. One column started from east Berlin's Gethsemane church, a focal point of old East Germany's peaceful revolution against communist rule, while another began at west Berlin's Memorial Church, bombed to ruins in World War II. A crowd of anarchists lobbed eggs and stones at Mr. Kohl when he joined one column flooding through the Brandenburg Gate, the symbol of German unity, but he was not hit. He was whisked out of the march by security men moments later and taken to Lustgarten Square by a more secure route. In his speech, Mr. Weizsaecker told Germans they must become more active to defend democracy against neo-Nazis who regarded reunification as a signal for a "Fourth Reich." "We should never forget why Germany's first republic failed - not because there were too many Nazis so early on, but because there were too few democrats for so long," he said. Mr. Weizsaecker also urged authorities to pursue neo-Nazis with the full force of law and protect Jewish sites better. The rally was held one day before the anniversary of the 1938 "Kristallnacht" (Night of the Shattering Glass) Nazi pogrom against Jews and the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM