Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Thousands of demonstrators in a number of North American and European cities staged demonstrations of solidarity in defense Palestine. They rallied to call for order Israel end the attack on Gaza Strip.
Quoting AFP, Sunday (16/5), about 2,000 people showed up in the Bay Ridge area in Brooklyn. They chanted “free Palestine” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
They waved Palestinian flags and held placards reading ‘end Israeli Apartheid’ and ‘freedom for Gaza.’
Many of the protesters wore black and white, red and white scarves, keffiyehs.
Several Jews also attended. They carried posters reading “Not in my name” and “solidarity with Palestine.”
Apart from Brooklyn, the rallies took place in cities including New York, Boston, Washington, Montreal and Dearborn, Michigan.
“I am here because I want Palestinian life to be the same as Israeli life and not today,” said one of the protesters, Emraan Khan, waving a Palestinian flag.
“When you have a nuclear-armed country and other states with rocky villagers, it’s clear who is to blame,” he added.
A student who took part in the demonstration, Alison Zambrano (20), traveled from the state of Connecticut.
“Palestinians have the right to live freely and children in Gaza cannot be killed,” he said.
Mashhour Ahmad, 73, who has lived in New York for 50 years, said don’t blame the victims for the aggression.
“I tell Pak Biden and his cabinet to stop supporting the killings. Support the victims, stop the oppression. The recent violence perpetrated by the Israeli army is genocide,” he added.
Hundreds of people also rallied at the Washington Monument, the US capital. In Montreal, thousands of people demonstrated to call for Palestinian liberation.
Protesters in Canada also denounced the “war crimes” committed by Israel in Gaza. They carried posters accusing Israel of violating international law.
Not only in the United States (US), solidarity actions against Palestine also took place in several regions in Europe.
In London, thousands of protesters march towards the Israeli embassy. They also carried posters reading demands to “stop bombing Gaza” and chants “Free Palestine.”
“This time is different. This time we will not be denied it again. We are united. We are fed up with oppression,” Palestinian Ambassador to Britain Husam Zomlot told the demonstrators.
Organizers claim the rally was attended by 150,000 people. However, the police could not confirm that number.
Two Leicester players, Hamza Choudhury from England and Wesley Fofana from France, waved the Palestinian flag after their team won the FA Cup final.
Meanwhile, in Madrid, about 2,500 people, marched towards the Puerta del Sol square in the city center.
“We want to ask Spain and European authorities not to cooperate with Israel, because in their silence they are working together,” said Moroccan nurse Ikhlass Abousiane, 25.
Israel boycott
Thousands of people marched in Berlin and other German cities following calls from the Samidoun collective. Other demonstrations were also held in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Hamburg.
Three rallies were held in the working-class district of Neukoelln south of Berlin, home to a number of people of Turkish and Arab heritage.
Protesters chanted “boycott Israel” and threw stones and paving bottles at police. Several people were arrested in the incident.
Last Tuesday, Israeli flags were burned in front of two synagogues, or Jewish places of worship, in Bonn and Muenster, France.
Police tried to disperse the protesters with tear gas. Meanwhile, some people continued to throw stones.
Then on Thursday, the action was banned for fear of repeated clashes. “France is the only democratic country which prohibits these demonstrations,” said a statement from the Palestine Association lawyers in the Paris region.
(jesus / a)
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