The area around the Uber Arena and the Israeli team's hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Berlin-Mitte, are particularly affected. The police recommend that you avoid both areas.Around the hotel, parts of the adjacent Axel-Springer-Straße, Krausenstraße and Schützenstraße will be closed from Wednesday, 4 p.m. to Friday, 11 a.m. At the Uber Arena, the area runs from the Spree and Mühlenstraße, across Mildred-Harnack-Straße, parts of Helen-Ernst-Straße and Hedwig-Wachenheim-Straße from 9 a.m. on match day.Public gatherings and open-air marches are not permitted in either of the cordoned-off areas. Motor vehicles, bicycles, motorized two-wheelers and other electric vehicles may not be parked in the zones during this period. Mobile containers such as clothing containers and garbage bins must also be removed. According to the police, objects already parked there will be removed if they are not removed during the specified periods.The police ask residents or authorized persons to carry their identity card and their service or company ID in order to be able to enter the cordoned-off areas smoothly.In response to an rbb|24 inquiry, the Alba Berlin press office wrote: "The Berlin police, the Uber Arena and Alba Berlin are in close contact with each other regarding the game against Maccabi Tel Aviv and are acting according to the authorities' assessment of the situation in order to ensure a pleasant and safe basketball evening for everyone involved. Due to the increased security measures, we ask that you arrive early on Thursday evening."
This is US Presidential level security - for a sports club.
If the residents of the area have to go through this, imagine what the Israeli players are living through.
They cannot sightsee, they cannot run out to buy a Coke - they are hermetically sealed. Because people who claim they are merely critics of Israel and only want peace might try to kill them.
For the "crime" of being Israeli.
It does no one any good to pretend that this isn't Jew hatred.
While these sorts of measures are necessary at this time, it is necessary for the education systems worldwide to understand and teach that this rabid form of "anti-Zionism" is just bigotry and hate and is unacceptable. It has nothing to do with Gaza or Palestinians and everything to do with hating Jews.
The haters know that this is not sustainable. Their goal is to make it more expensive to host Israelis than it is to ban them. Maybe that can point to an economic solution.
Perhaps local governments should charge the groups calling for public protests to pay the cost of security. Everyone violating the law should pay a fine equivalent to the cost of police to arrest and process them.
Right now, the cost to protect is hugely disproportionate to the cost to protest. As long as protests are meant to intimidate and threaten, protesters should be forced to pay to protect the very people they want to attack.
(h/t Daniel)
