World United: End Israeli Massacres in Gaza – SPECIAL REPORT

October 13, 2023 Articles, Features
Israeli airstrikes on besieged Gaza continue. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

By Zeenat Adam

The war in Gaza has triggered a torrent of demonstrations in support of the Palestinian people worldwide.

As the siege on Gaza intensifies, in addition to the air, sea and land blockade imposed by Israel over seventeen years, Palestinians are currently subjected to the raining down of incendiary bombs on innocent civilians, massacring entire families.

Now facing an inhumane and illegal termination of access to water, electricity, and humanitarian aid, the Palestinian people have remained steadfast despite the psychological and information warfare, designed to further capitulate them.

With a deep sense of apprehension of a looming genocide, global solidarity marches have intensified the pressure on Israel’s supporters.

Demonstrators have called for an immediate cessation of the Israeli military onslaught, the end of the illegal siege that has effectively turned Gaza into a concentration camp, the halting of indiscriminate bombings and collective punishment, and the provision of urgent humanitarian aid.

Spontaneous public rallies across the Arab world have challenged governmental policies towards normalization of relations with the Israeli government.

In Europe in particular, demonstrations have been met with riot police, banning orders, censorship and arrests. Yet people continue to raise the Palestinian flag and more importantly, their voices, advocating for justice for Palestine.

GERMANY

Rallies in Berlin, planned under the banners “Solidarity with All Political Prisoners on Palestinian Prisoners Day” and “Demo in Solidarity with Palestine,” were banned, with police taking stringent security measures. Activists who defied the ban were met with arrest.

The sensitivities in Germany were heightened with the reinforcement of a ban on the Palestinian flag, deemed by the German authorities as anti-Semitic.

Activists in support of Palestine accused the German government of fascism in curtailing their democratic rights to protest.

FRANCE

In France, riot police attacked protestors in Lyon, while police unleashed teargas and water cannons on demonstrators in Paris, after the interior minister, Gerald Darmanin banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were “likely to generate disturbances to public order”.

Thousands of people rebelled against the banning order, filling the streets of Paris, chanting “Nous sommes des Palestinians” (We are all Palestinian).

France is home to Europe’s largest Muslim and Jewish communities. Pro-Israel rallies were not given the same sanction, while over twenty Palestinian supporters were arrested for alleged “antisemitic acts”.

Activists considered these actions a further entrenchment of French Islamophobia. Israeli sympathizers attacked a group of Jewish Rabbis who were attending a conference in support of Palestine.

UNITED KINGDOM

The press in the United Kingdom has been inciting against Palestinian sympathizers, likening them to ISIS.

Mass demonstrations were held in London and other major cities, while the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged absolute support for Israel.

With the support of the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, the UK is seeking to ban protests, calling on the police to “use the full force of the law”. Protesters remained undeterred, however.

ALSO, IN EUROPE

Protests across other European cities, including Athens, Vienna, Geneva and Barcelona swelled on Friday, with an unprecedented show of support for Palestine, exceeding the anti-war demonstrations seen during the US invasion of Iraq.

THE UNITED STATES

Israel’s strongest backing has come from the US government, and in equal measure, pro-Palestinian rallies were robust despite the beefing up of security and reported intimidation by the FBI on known Palestinian sympathizers and Palestinian Americans.

New York, Chicago, LA, Atlanta and Houston displayed massive assemblies of demonstrators, chanting “Free Palestine” and advocating for the halt of all financial aid to Israel, asserting that they do not consent to their taxes being used to fund the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians.

AUSTRALIA

Similarly, in Australia, as protesters demanded the cessation of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, police sought legal advice to invoke special powers last used in race riots in 2005 that would authorize police to conduct searches without cause.

CANADA

Thousands of people gathered in Toronto, and other cities, in a remarkable expression of their empathy with the Palestinian cause, emphasizing a strong desire for peace, and a just and equitable resolution to conflict. Supporters included Jewish voices for peace.

CHILE

Chile, home to the largest Palestinian diaspora community saw some of the most impressive outpouring of support for Palestine with heartfelt yearning for return to their homeland.

SOUTH AFRICA

Cape Town and Johannesburg held protests, drawing immense support from anti-Apartheid activists and stalwarts, who continue to profess their absolute commitment to the liberation of Palestine, recalling the words of Nelson Mandela that “our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”.

The protesters emphasized the need for a multi-pronged approach to apply pressure on Israel, including Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).

 

ASIA

A surge of support for Palestine was also displayed in Seoul and Tokyo.

Palestinian supporters urged Japan not to follow suit with Europe in suspending aid to Palestine. According to Japanese foreign ministry information, Tokyo has provided $2.3 billion of assistance to Palestinians over the last decade.

In Muslim-majority Malaysia and in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation, people emerged in large numbers for Friday prayers, where the Imams delivered sermons on the situation in Gaza and made special prayers for the people of Palestine.

In Pakistan, while the government was treading cautiously in their statements, pondering closer relations with Israel, protesters burned the Israeli flag and protested in large numbers.

MIDDLE EAST

The most prolific demonstrations were held across the Middle East, as protesters took to the streets, pledging their souls and lives for Palestine.

From Morocco to Istanbul, Baghdad to Beirut, Tehran to Sanaa passionate protests shook the region, showing total rejection of the notion of normalization of ties with Israel.

City centers and squares were brimming with rousing crowds calling for the immediate end of the siege and calling for a global “day of rage”.

The protests were a tangible testament to the international anxiety as Israel set an impossible ultimatum for more than a million Gaza residents to evacuate within 24 hours ahead of a planned carpet bombing.

Demonstrators around the world have warned of a complete genocide and demanded that world leaders intervene and hold Israel accountable for war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

– Zeenat Adam is a former diplomat and international relations strategist. She contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

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