Activist hoists Palestinian flag at Reichstag; Berlin police say security measures will be adjusted

Date: 9 November 2026, 15:54

After an activist raised a Palestine flag in front of the Bundestag in Berlin, the Berlin police have announced consequences for their security precautions. A politician proposes rules for the area around the Bundestag.

Police to Adjust Security Measures

Following the incident in which an activist raised the Palestine flag in front of the Bundestag in Berlin, the Berlin police have announced consequences for their security precautions. "We will of course take yesterday's event as an occasion and will adapt our protective measures — that is, the protective measures of the Berlin police for the external protection of the German Bundestag — accordingly," 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 also 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 flag. 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 were abusing the high good of the right to demonstrate.

Berlin's Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) described the act as "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 their contempt for our democracy," he wrote on the platform X.

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

Is a Restricted Zone Needed Again?

CDU politician Frei has 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. This 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 — as proposed by Frei — existed until 1999. Within that area, assemblies and demonstrations in the open air were prohibited.