Thousands take to the streets of cities around the world in pro-Palestine protests
Around the world people have taken to the streets to support Palestine. See the protest pictures.
World
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tens of thousands of people have taken part in pro-Palestine protests in cities around the world.
In the United Kingdom, several cities, including London, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh,
were reduced to gridlock as thousands marched, despite police warnings that anyone showing support for the militant group Hamas could face arrest.
In London, demonstrators massed neared BBC News’ headquarters before an afternoon rally near Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street office and residence.
Some held Palestinian flags and placards with slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine”, “End the massacre” and “Sanctions for Israel” while chants of “Rishi Sunak, shame on you” could be heard.
London’s Metropolitan Police Service said more than 1,000 officers ahead of the protest kept watch on the rallies but later said they passed “without issue”, with seven arrests made.
There were eight further arrests during “small pockets of disorder and unacceptable criminality” in nearby Trafalgar Square afterwards.
They related to suspected assaults on emergency workers, allegedly setting off fireworks in public places and suspected public order offences.
Nine officers were treated for minor injuries.
More than 1000 police will descend on Hyde Park in Sydney on Sunday as hundreds of pro-Palestine ralliers are expected to converge on the city in protest to the conflict with Israel.
At least 500 people have registered their attendance to the rally despite police warning the public to stay away from the city. Police will be on high alert and will likely invoke some of the strictest powers available, should the event be hijacked by violent or anti-Semitic groups.
In Denmark, around a thousand people attended a pro-Palestinian rally in the capital Copenhagen to protest the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip.
Marchers converged at Norrebro in western Copenhagen, many carrying flags and banners with slogans such as “A genocide is unfurling” and “Stop killing innocent Palestinian children”.
Other banners read “Long live Palestine” or denounced the United States and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Cries of “Free Palestine” rang out in New York on Friday, as thousands of protesters took to the streets to denounce Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip.
Calling for an end to “Israeli occupation” and the “liberation” of the Palestinian territories, protesters took up multiple blocks in NYC.
The largely youthful protest called for the US to withdraw support for its Middle Eastern ally.
New York, home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, has been the scene of a series of demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause as well as vigils and demonstrations in solidarity with the Israeli victims of Hamas attacks.
Protests have popped up on college campuses across the US as well.
Around 6,000 packed the streets of Geneva, with many people holding similar signs seen in protests in other parts of the world.
One boy held a placard reading: “Save the children of Gaza”.
Nearby in the tiny country of Liechtenstein, the capital Vaduz was briefly rocked by a bomb scare relating to the Israel Hamas conflict.
Police said they found no explosive devices and reopened the capital Vaduz on Saturday after receiving an anonymous warning from a man “wanting to support Palestine”.
It comes after the former chief of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, called for a global day of rage against supporters of Israel wherever they are in the world.
Scotland Yard said it was prepared for unrest in the capital as rising tensions in the Middle East threatens to spark violence in Britain.
The UK’s counter terrorism network is looking into whether there is an “increased likelihood of attacks”.
RISHI SUNAK PLEDGES TO KEEP BRITISH JEWS SAFE
Rishi Sunak has vowed to “stop at nothing” to keep Britain’s Jewish community safe, before promising support for Israel following the Hamas attacks.
Addressing a crowd at a synagogue in north London, Britain’s Prime Minister showed his solidarity for Israel and reassured Britain’s Jews.
“We stand with Israel, the United Kingdom stands with Israel against this terrorism today, tomorrow and always,” Mr Sunak said.
“I know that at moments like this, when the Jewish people are under attack in their homeland, Jewish people everywhere can feel less safe.
“We have already seen vile words on our streets and attempts to stir up community tensions.
“I say, Not here. Not in Britain. Not in our country. Not in this century. My first duty is to protect you. We will not tolerate this hate, we will not tolerate this anti-Semitism.
“And I promise you I will stop at nothing to keep you safe.”
He also hasn’t ruled out offering military support to Israel
“And as I said to the prime minister [of Israel], we will continue to provide – whether that’s diplomatic, intelligence or security support – as they need,” he said, after a meeting at a business in Newark, Nottinghamshire,” Mr Sunak said.
Later on, Mr Sunak, US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promised their “steadfast and united support to the State of Israel.
“We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism,” a joint statement said.
“In recent days, the world has watched in horror as Hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes, slaughtered over 200 young people enjoying a music festival, and kidnapped elderly women, children, and entire families, who are now being held as hostages.”
The world leaders warned that “this is not a moment for any party hostile to Israel to exploit these attacks to seek advantage”.
They also recognised the “legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people”, but “Hamas does not represent those aspirations, and it offers nothing for the Palestinian people other than more terror and bloodshed”.
It comes as the death toll in Israel surged above 1000 with more expected.
Israel said they killed 1500 terrorists in their counteroffensive within Israel, while in Gaza the Palestinian health ministry said 830 had been killed and 4000 wounded.
‘TAKEN A TOLL’: ALBANESE CONDEMNS HAMAS ATTACKS
It comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reassured the Jewish community that his government unequivocally condemned the attacks by Hamas while speaking at a Melbourne synagogue last week.
“The images we have seen from Israel, I believe, have taken a toll on all Australians,” he said.
“The government and the people of Australia unequivocally condemned the attack.”
Mr Albanese said there was no place for antisemitism in Australia.
“Over 1000 people in Israel have been killed, as many as 150 people taken from Israel and held hostage in Gaza,” he said.
“I know many of you are spending sleepless nights waiting desperately to hear from loved ones.
“Many of you have family and friends who are being called up to serve, and many of you will fear a rise in antisemitism here at home.
“I want to assure you, that kind of hateful prejudice has no place in Australia.”
SECURITY STEPPED UP AT JEWISH SITES AROUND THE WORLD
BRITAIN
Police in London said they had boosted patrols following the Hamas attack.
“We are aware of a number of incidents … in relation to the ongoing conflict in Israel and the border with Gaza,” the Metropolitan Police said on social media.
Interior minister Suella Braverman warned of “zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or glorification of terrorism on the streets of Britain”.
“I expect the police to use the full force of the law against displays of support for Hamas, other proscribed terrorist groups or attempts to intimidate British Jews,” Braverman wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
UNITED STATES AND CANADA
The bloody Middle East conflict triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel last weekend has sparked angry disputes at some of most prestigious universities in the United States, which are both training grounds for future American leaders and sometimes hotbeds of activism.
At Harvard, Stanford and New York University (NYU), bitter clashes involving students, professors and administrators have blown up into viral debates on social media, with echoes in the political and media worlds.
In at least a few cases, people’s stances on the conflict have cost them job offers - or led to threats of violence.
At Harvard, a statement signed by several student groups sparked an explosive response.
The text said that the students “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence”; that the recent events “did not occur in a vacuum”; and that “Israeli violence has structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years.”
That drew a caustic reaction from Lawrence Summers, a former US Treasury Secretary and the former president of Harvard.
“I am sickened,” and not just by the students’ statement but by “the silence from Harvard’s leadership,” he said on X, the former Twitter.
Donald Trump accused “American Universities” of “allowing or enabling the open hatred against Israel and America” in a post on Truth Social.
At NYU, after the president of the Student Bar Association declared that “Israel bears full responsibility for this tremendous loss of life,” the law firm of Winston & Strawn withdrew a job offer made to them earlier.
Meantime, on the West Coast, administrators at prestigious Stanford University came under fire for refusing to condemn protesters’ pro-Palestinian banners.
Students at Georgetown University in Washington wrote the school’s president to castigate him over his “long silence on Palestinian suffering.” And a petition calling for the firing of a Yale professor who had referred to Israel as a “murderous, genocidal settler state” quickly drew close to 45,000 signatures.
Against this tense backdrop, students on both sides of the issue say they feel uneasy.
“We have so many Jewish students feeling threatened,” something that “they’ve never experienced before,” Jillian Lederman, president of Brown (University) Students for Israel, told CNN.
And a Palestinian student at Harvard, who declined to give his name, told ABC News that “it’s a really, really scary time to be Palestinian... in an environment that is so hostile.” Harvard announced this week that university police were protectively stepping up their presence on campus.
In Canada, police in the capital Ottawa announced an increased presence at sensitive religious areas.
“Today’s attack on Israel has an impact on our own community in Ottawa,” a statement said.
“We have increased police presence in areas of religious significance including synagogues and mosques.
“We are also reaching out to community partners to ensure they know we are here to support them. Hate Crimes will not be tolerated and will be fully investigated.”
FRANCE
The French government focused on synagogues and Jewish schools in cities across the country.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin sent an urgent message to regional officials to reinforce surveillance.
He called for a “visible and systematic static presence”, and the use of soldiers from France’s Operation Sentinelle, a force deployed across the country since the 2015 terror attacks.
France’s Jewish population, estimated at over 500,000, is the largest in Europe and the third-biggest in the world, after Israel and the United States.
GERMANY
Berlin boosted police protection of Jewish and Israeli institutions, while some Palestinian supporters took to the streets of the capital to celebrate the attack.
“In Berlin, police protection has been immediately stepped up,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told Bild newspaper.
“The federal government and the regions are closely co-ordinating their actions.”
Authorities were also closely watching “potential supporters of Hamas in the Islamist sphere”, she added.
Berlin police posted photos on social media showing “people celebrating the attacks on Israel by passing out pastries”.
IRAN AND IRAQ
Hundreds of people gathered last weekend in major cities including on Tehran’s Palestine Square, carrying Palestinian flags.
Billboards celebrating the Hamas attack were put up the capital, including one declaring: “The great liberation operation has begun.”
Crowds in some cities set off fireworks and torched Israeli flags.
SOUTH AFRICA
Several hundred members of the Muslim community in Cape Town gathered at the Al Quds mosque in solidarity with Palestinians last weekend.
“South Africa’s liberation movement “was also forced … to take up arms to have an impact” said Shaykh Shahid Esau, a former member of the South African parliament.
LEBANON
The Iran-backed Shiite movement Hezbollah staged a rally in Beirut amid chants of “Death to Israel”.
Hezbollah said it had fired on Israeli positions in the contested Shebaa Farms border area, “in solidarity” with Hamas.
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine said the strikes were a message to Israel that “it’s our right and duty to target the enemy so long as it occupies our land”.
TURKEY AND YEMEN
Thousands of Turks joined a march in Istanbul to back the Palestinians.
“The Palestinian people are only defending their homeland, it has nothing to do with terrorism,” said 54-year-old Sahin Ocal, a member of one of the associations that organised the protest.
In Yemen, demonstrators burned Israeli and US flags during a protest in the capital Sanaa, which is controlled by Huthi militiamen backed by Iran.
Militiamen on the streets shouted “Death to America, Death to Israel”.
– with AFP
More Coverage
Read related topics:Israel Conflict
How the explosives got into the pagers
The mysterious pager and walkie-talkie explosions in Lebanon have stunned the world. This is what we know so far.
Read more
‘Human’: Melania on her naked pictures
The former first lady said she stands “proudly behind” the images, and accused “the media” of scrutinising her “celebration of the human form”.
Read more