Protests erupt against Israeli incursion
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:39:00 01/05/2009
Filed Under: Protest, Unrest and Conflicts and War, Gaza conflict
LONDON—Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in European cities against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, including protesters who hurled shoes at the tall iron gates outside the British prime minister’s residence in London.
Thousands also joined demonstrations in Indonesia and Australia to protest Israel’s escalation of hostilities on the Gaza Strip. On Saturday night, Israel launched a ground offensive, sending tanks and infantry into Gaza.
Amid increasing criticism of Israel, international diplomatic efforts were under way to end the ground offensive and days of air strikes, which have killed more than 460 people and left 1,700 wounded.
At least 10,000 people, many carrying Palestinian flags, marched on Saturday past British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Downing Street residence to a rally in London’s Trafalgar Square. Outside Downing Street, hundreds of protesters stopped and threw shoes at the gates that block entry to the narrow road.
Shoe-throwing has become a popular gesture of protest and contempt since an Iraqi journalist tossed a pair of brogues at US President George W. Bush in Baghdad last month.
Israeli terror hit
Police estimated the crowd in London at 10,000 to 12,000, but organizers said the number was much higher. The marchers included activist Bianca Jagger, ex-Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox and comedian Alexei Sayle.
“As a Jew, it’s very moving to see so many people who are so outraged at Israel’s actions,” Sayle said. “Israel is a democratic country that is behaving like a terrorist organization.”
After the rally, about 5,000 protesters marched on the Israeli Embassy in west London. Some youths burned Israeli flags and scuffled with police and hurled bottles and sticks at officers in riot gear. Several demonstrators were led away by police after leaping over metal barriers holding them back from the embassy.
Protest organizers accused police of charging into groups of demonstrators on the way to the embassy, and said they would file a complaint.
Rallies also were held in other British cities—including Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
More protests
Protests in Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Berlin all drew thousands of people.
In Paris, police said 21,000 people marched through the streets, shouting “We are all Palestinians” and “Israel assassin.”
Later, about 500 of the protesters turned violent, throwing objects at police, burning Israeli flags, overturning and torching cars, and vandalizing several shops, police said. Ten police officers were injured in the clashes and 20 protesters arrested, according to a Paris police spokesperson.
Angry protests continued for a second day in Turkey, where about 5,000 demonstrators shouted “killer Israel” outside the UN mission and Israeli Embassy in downtown Ankara.
Some 750 people, carrying Turkish and Israeli flags, also marched on the Israeli Consulate in the business district of Levent in Istanbul’s European side under the watchful eye of riot police.
“Shut down the Zionist embassy, Palestine is not alone,” chanted the protestors, who also burned an Israeli flag.
‘Turning in her grave’
In The Netherlands, thousands of people marched through Amsterdam, criticizing both the Israeli attacks and the Dutch government’s failure to condemn them. One banner declared: “Anne Frank is turning in her grave. Oh Israel!”
More than 4,000 people demonstrated in Duesseldorf, Germany, and some 5,000 people rallied in Frankfurt. One group in Duesseldorf held up a doll representing a bleeding baby with the placard “Made in Israel.”
In Berlin, more than 7,000 people braved freezing temperatures for a march along the capital’s Unter den Linden boulevard.
Another 2,500 demonstrated in Salzburg, Austria, while scores protested peacefully in Madrid outside the Spanish foreign ministry.
Hundreds more marched in the Swedish cities of Malmo and Uppsala. In Oslo, Norwegian demonstrators marched from the parliament to the Israeli Embassy, calling on Israel to “let Gaza live.”
Petrol bombs
In Athens, Greece—the scene of violent demonstrations by anarchist youths over the past month—a few of the 5,000 protesters threw stones and petrol bombs at police outside the Israeli Embassy. Riot police retaliated with tear gas and stun grenades.
In Cyprus, demonstrators pelted riot police with rocks, sticks, shoes and oranges near the Israeli Embassy in Nicosia.
The protest by about 2,000 people turned violent when some protesters tried to break through a line of police blocking the road leading to the embassy. The demonstrators eventually dispersed.
In Sydney, thousands of Australians protested on Sunday against Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip and urged their government to condemn the invasion on the battered Palestinian enclave.
Some 2,000 people chanting “Free, free Palestine” and “Israel, USA, how many kids have you killed today?” marched through central Sydney, with protesters bearing three coffins to remember the hundreds of lives lost.
Israeli flag burned
The protest was mostly peaceful, although one man climbed a tree at a rally at the end of the march to set an Israeli flag alight.
In the southern city of Melbourne, about 3,000 people condemned the Israeli action and held banners with images of the bloodied corpses of children killed in the raids.
Urging the Australian government to condemn the Israeli action, some marchers held banners reading “Stop the holocaust in Gaza” and “Peace and justice for Palestine.”
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard has condemned the actions of Hamas in shelling southern Israel and has expressed concern about casualties, but she has refrained from criticizing Israel’s campaign.
Indon Islamists
In Indonesia, thousands of Islamists rallied across the country on Sunday to condemn Israel’s military strikes and called on Jakarta to send troops to fight Israeli forces.
Around 3,000 members of the Islamist Hizbut Tahrir movement took over the streets of central Jakarta. Dressed head-to-toe in black and white, women in head scarves marched with other protesters waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags and carrying banners denouncing the Jewish state as a “terrorist” force.
“Indonesia’s military must go to war against Israel, not just as peacekeepers. We ask the government to send troops there, not just medicine,” said Farid Wadjdi, the movement’s local head.
Thousands of members of the group, which calls for the establishment of a worldwide Islamic caliphate, also marched in other areas including the second-largest city, Surabaya, where more than a hundred police stood guard outside the US Consulate.
Protesters trampled on an Israeli flag painted onto the ground in South Sulawesi province, rubbing their feet into the image as a sign of disrespect.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, is a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause and does not recognize Israel.
Brown’s action
Prime Minister Brown’s office on Saturday said the British leader had phoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and called for an immediate ceasefire.
“Rocket attacks from Hamas must stop, and we have called for a halt to Israeli military action in Gaza,” a spokesperson said on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.
“Too many have died and we need space to get humanitarian supplies to those who need them.”
The Israeli air strikes have badly damaged Gaza’s infrastructure, knocking out power and water in many areas and raising fears of humanitarian disaster. Israel said its offensive was designed to wipe out the threat from Hamas, which holds political power in the territory.
Bush has declined to criticize Israel, branding Hamas rocket fire an “act of terror.” But he has joined other world leaders in calling for an internationally monitored truce.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also has backed a ceasefire, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit the region next week as part of a diplomatic effort to stop the violence.
Reports from AP and AFP
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