Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters demonstrate in Berlin on Nakba Day

Around 5,400 people gathered in Berlin on Saturday to show their support for Palestinians and mark Nakba Day earlier this week, German police said.

They had initially expected some 2,000 people to commemorate the Nakba, also known as the Palestinian Catastrophe, comprising the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 and permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people. Palestinians mark Nakba Day on May 15 every year.

Some 500 officers were deployed. Some people threw firecrackers towards officers, a police spokeswoman said. The organizers told participants to refrain from such actions, a dpa reporter saw on site.

The participants wanted to walk from the Kreuzberg neighbourhood towards the Rotes Rathaus city hall on Alexanderplatz, in a rally held under the banner "Palestine will be free."

Their route was originally supposed to lead to the Brandenburg Gate though this changed at short notice, police said.

The authorities had issued a number of conditions when allowing the demonstration to take place, including a ban on calls for acts of violence or defamatory slogans.