Her activism won attention and praise in Germany, her adopted country — until she took it to a protest in support of Palestinians. The two were not demonstrating, she said, but wore the black and white Palestinian scarf known as the kaffiyeh. The police pushed her friend to the ground, pinned him down for several minutes and arrested him. “What I saw in their eyes is similar to what I saw in the eyes of Assad regime forces,” Ms. Mustafa said, referring to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator. Some, citing security fears, have imposed stiff restrictions on pro-Palestinian protests in particular or banned them altogether, raising concerns about the violation of civil liberties.

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Persons: Wafa Mustafa, Mustafa, Assad, ” Ms, Bashar al, “, ” Organizations: United Nations Locations: Syria, Germany, Berlin, Gaza, Syrian, Israel, Europe