Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of London, Vienna, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Washington and cities in more than 30 countries, called by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and in protest against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, which this Sunday reaches one hundred days. The war has been the longest and deadliest between Israelis and Palestinians since 1948. Palestinian health authorities put the death toll at 23,843 and more than 60,000 wounded. The Israeli military offensive occurred in response to the Hamas terrorist attacks that caused more than 1,200 fatalities on October 7.
The day of “global action for Palestine” kicked off on Saturday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where thousands of protesters gathered in front of the American embassy to protest support for Israel and the airstrikes launched this week against the Houthi rebels in Yemen. to “protect” commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
In Johannesburg, the protest was led by Roshan Dadoo, leader of the Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. South Africa this week accused Israel of genocide before the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague. “We are going to continue protesting until there is a ceasefire and sufficient humanitarian assistance in Gaza,” said Dadoo at the start of the march.
“Gaza may end up being the pit of international law,” warned Mary Lou McDonald, leader of the Irish Sinn Féin party, which joined the protests in London. “The indiscriminate butchery of men, women and children is taking place in full view of the entire world and international leaders, who have been unable to stop the human rights violations committed in Gaza.”
“The majority of Britons support the ceasefire, but politicians continue to support genocide,” said Jeanine Hourani, a member of the Palestinian Youth Movement in London. “The feeling is one of anger and frustration, but we are going to continue going out into the streets to put pressure and until Palestine is free.”
More than 1,700 police officers in London monitored the march called from Bank Junction to the British Parliament, with very drastic instructions not to deviate from the route and warnings of police intervention in the event of slogans or signs of violence.
To the slogans of “Stop the genocide in Gaza!” This time they were joined by those of “Stop the bombing in Yemen!”, after this week’s air attacks against the Houthi rebels in which several British fighters participated. “This is only going to escalate the conflict,” lamented Faith Hewlett, a Labor voter, highly critical of Keir Starmer’s condescension. “The blindness of our leaders can lead us to an all-out war.”
The demonstration in London was led by the giant Little Amal puppet, as a symbol of refugee children from Syria and Palestine. “The world should be horrified at what is happening,” denounced Hafsa Saleh, a British woman of Palestinian origin. “Since when is killing innocents self-defense? One in three fatalities in Gaza are children and our Government has become an accomplice.”
On Sunday, in Trafalgar Square, another demonstration is scheduled, this time in support of Israel, with the intervention, among others, of the conservatives Lord Eric Pickles and Christian Wakeford, and with the presence of Ayelet Svatitzky, who demands the release of her mother and brother kidnapped by Hamas.
