Activist replaces German flag with Palestinian flag at Reichstag, prompting police and political response

Berlin, 9 November 2026, 15:54

After an activist raised the Palestinian flag in front of the Bundestag in Berlin, the Berlin police have announced consequences for their security arrangements. "We are of course taking yesterday's event as an occasion and will adapt our protective measures accordingly—that is, the Berlin police's protective measures for the exterior protection of the German Bundestag," spokesperson Martin Halweg told the German Press Agency (dpa). He did not provide details.

"At the same time, we must also say at this point that we do not have the personnel to permanently station a colleague at this flagpole 24 hours a day, seven days a week," the spokesperson emphasized. The police have always taken protective measures that cannot be disclosed in detail for security reasons and, in part, for tactical policing considerations.

Political Reactions

On Sunday, a man climbed the flagpole in front of the Reichstag building and replaced the German flag with a Palestinian one. Thorsten Frei, leader of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, described the action to the Rheinische Post as a defamation of the state, in which activists abuse the high good of the right to demonstrate.

Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) called the act "unbearable, especially on the eve of 9 November." "Anyone who tears down black-red-gold in front of the Reichstag and raises a Palestine flag shows contempt for our democracy," he wrote on the platform X.

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) had already demanded on Sunday in response to the incident: "Our German Bundestag needs more protection!"

Is a Restricted Zone Needed Again?

CDU politician Frei also suggested reintroducing a restricted zone (Bannmeile) because of the incident. "With a view to increasingly aggressive forms of protest, the question arises whether the previous protection is still sufficient," he told the Rheinische Post. The state must draw clear boundaries where targeted disruptions and intimidation impair the work of parliament and government, he said.

Currently, a certain area around the Reichstag building and surrounding Bundestag buildings is designated as a pacified district. According to the Bundestag, demonstrations and assemblies there are only permitted if they do not impair the work of the Bundestag or its parliamentary groups. That is the case when no sessions are taking place in the Bundestag on the day of the protest.

According to the information, a restricted zone around the parliament in Bonn—the kind Frei has now raised—existed until 1999. Within that area, assemblies and demonstrations in the open air were prohibited.