Pro-Palestinian rallies have taken place in major cities worldwide, including the US, the UK, and other European nations, and countries such as South Africa, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia, Press TV reports.
Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators in Rome as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to call for an end to Israeli atrocities on Gaza.
In Rome, several thousands demonstrated peacefully Saturday afternoon, chanting “Free Palestine, Free Lebanon,” waving Palestinian flags and holding banners calling for an immediate stop to the Israeli war.
Huge rallies were held in several European cities, with gatherings expected to continue over the weekend and peak on Monday, the date of the anniversary.
In London, tens of thousands marched through the capital to Downing Street amid a heavy police presence. Scuffles broke out as police officers pushed back activists trying to get past a cordon and arrested at least 17 people.
In the northern German city of Hamburg, people staged a peaceful demonstration with many waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags or chanting “Stop the Genocide”.
Several thousand protesters gathered peacefully at Paris’ Republique Plaza in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese people. They waved Palestinian flags while holding posters reading ”Stop the Genocide,” “Free Palestine,” and “Hands off Lebanon.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators also gathered at New York’s Times Square to call for an end to the Israeli war, chanting “Gaza!” to a drumbeat.
Some wore keffiyeh scarfs, waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags and held a large cardboard image of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu with red paint symbolizing blood across his face.
Rallies were also held in several other US cities from Washington on the East Coast to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Seattle on the West Coast as well as in other parts of the world, including Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa and India.
In the Philippines, activists protested near the US Embassy in Manila, where police prevented them from getting closer to the seaside compound.
Former Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf, who took part in a pro-Palestine march in London, criticized the British leadership for “double standards and hypocrisy” in its handling of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Thousands of people also staged pro-Palestinian rallies in the French cities of Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux, and Strasbourg.
Thousands of people held a pro-Palestinian rally in Madrid, brandishing signs with messages such as “Boycott Israel.”
Pro-Palestinian protesters also marched on the Israeli regime’s embassy in Athens, which was heavily guarded by Greek security forces.
In the German capital city Berlin on Saturday, thousands of protesting pro-Palestinians chanted “Free Palestine, Free Lebanon, free Gaza” at a rally.
Protesters also carried a giant Palestinian flag measuring several meters while marching past the party headquarters of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD).
One placard in English condemned “Israel’s genocide” while another read, “Germany’s silence is crime complicity.”
bd-pratidin/GR
