Every year on April 30 / May 1 there are riots in the streets of Berlin. Anarchists fight with the police and right wing supporters...usually there is a lot of physical and material damage. This year we decided to send prayer teams on site as well as pray in churches and prayer rooms for a more peaceful day.
I went there around 22.30 with one oy my friends and there were other prayer teams which had prayed before us. First everything was quiet but after midnight young people started to provoke the police and to my utter disgust around one or two thousand people immediately gathered to welcome this "spectacle" and to cheer for the anarchists. We continued to pray until the police set and end to the scene and then we went home. Next day we went again to pray in the srttes of Berlin.
The news reports were encouraging. Although there still was violence it was far less than in the previous years.
Newspapers reported:
- The police did a real good job and was praised by everybody for acting wisely and efficiently
- The riots were greatly hindered and ineffective and everybody sees a change now coming and the newspaper said that the ritual has been broken...
- Nor one policemen had to stay in hospital- only slight injuries..
- Only one car burned, no shops plundered!!! Hallelujah!
- Still people tried to fight with the police but couldn't really do much harm!)
Looking closely at the outcome and at the time the riots occurred it was always when we had "a week point" - not enough manpower in prayer - because in the late hours we didn't have enough people to pray on spot. On Monday we will evaluate the effectiveness of our prayer strategy and try to learn for next time to be even better prepared.