The demonstration was advertised for 14:00. I got there about 13:45 and stayed until about 14:30. During that time both demonstrators and police socialized in their respective groups. Demonstrators seemed to make no attempt to communicate with passersby. There was no leafletting, and only two placards that I saw, one of which read „Zionists lügen“.
The red flag with star to the right reads „Freie Linke“. I was unfamiliar with this group, and needed to look it up when I got home. Still feel pretty unfamiliar with them, although they have quite a lengthy statement and also have some clothing available for purchase.
The brown paper was unrolled and the message painted as I watched. The two banners were held up long enough that photos could be taken. Those standing with the banners wore scarves to conceal their mouths and noses, which interested the police observing, however as soon as the photos were taken the scarves came off and in fact the brown paper was discarded as well – the entire purpose had been to make photos presumably for social media. „Here we are demonstrating in Leipzig!“ (no matter that what you see of us demonstrating was only true for the minute it took to make the photo).
The man with the Syrian flag was quite serious about waving it. At one point he had the flag of Palestine as well, and waved the Syrian with one arm and the Palestinian flag with the other. I am assuming the „Nike“ bag is not a political statement, although this may very well be a faulty assumption – it could be that there is some identification with western sports intended.
The English language rap, the invocation of George Floyd adds a curious touch. There were no blacks in the demonstration, but I think music referencing the US adds some measure of authenticity to demonstrations in Germany. It is not unusual to see slogans from US protests, including from the 1960s civil rights movement. This is Leipzig’s contribution to a global movement against imperialism and racism, a movement where significant flashpoints are in the US?
