Protest in Berlin: A Semiotic Reading

The article reports on the ethno-semiotic analysis of a protest demonstration in Berlin. After pointing out the main foci of the semiotic study of protest, and surveying the literature on the German context, the article concentrates on a reading of the the “Al- Quds-Tag”, the German translation of “Rūz-e dschehānī-ye Ghods” [litt.: ‘international Jerusalem day’], an Iranian national holiday instituted on August 7, 1979 by the leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, upon a suggestion of Ebrahim Yazdi, the first foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is celebrated every year the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. The holiday invites Muslims worldwide to unite in solidarity against Israel and in support of Palestinians. Since its inception, the holiday has spurred tensions globally, and brought about demonstrations that have often degenerated into overt and violent conflicts. The analysis specifically explores the ways in which present-day phenomena of local protest intersect global phenomena trends, such as those related to war scenes around the world, or the protection of the environment from energetic overexploitation. It concludes that, in Germany as well as in other Western European countries, globalization and the explosion of social networks contribute to increasingly separate local and global protests, these two dimensions of social confrontation being carried on by different people, with different signs, and different agendas.