London: Hundreds of thousands of people Saturday November 11, 2023 once again thronged the streets in London and other parts of Europe chanting slogans “From the River to the Sea, Free Palestine, Free Palestine” and demanding action against the Zionists for their massacre of children in Gaza.
The number of people in November 11 London pro-Palestine rally was much higher than what the British capital had seen on October 14, 2023.
I just can’t get bored watching London protests of today… pic.twitter.com/7tZaGKm3os— Ahmed Alnaouq (@AlnaouqA) November 11, 2023
I just can’t get bored watching London protests of today… pic.twitter.com/7tZaGKm3os
The Metropolitan police said around 300,000 people assembled in London, while the organisers of the event put the number closer to 800,000 and claimed it was one of the biggest marches in British history.
London's Metropolitan Police had refused ministerial requests to block the Palestine solidarity rally, saying they did not have indications that there would be serious violence, straining relations with the government.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, daughter of Indian-origin parents, however accused London police of pro-Palestine bias and also called activists marching in solidarity with Palestinians "hate marches".
This led to the tension before Saturday's march - the biggest in a series to show support for the Palestinians and call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
"The last time I was at a march of this scale was exactly 20 years ago, in 2003, for ‘Stop the War in Iraq’", a protester said.
Skirmishes broke out between police and the far-right groups gathered to protest against the pro-Palestine demonstration taking place on Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of World War One, when Britain commemorates its war dead, according to Reuters.
Police said in a statement late on Saturday that they had arrested 126 people so far, the majority of whom were right wing protesters who formed part of a group several hundred strong which police said included football hooligans.
This group were largely football hooligans from across the UK and spent most of the day attacking or threatening officers who were seeking to prevent them being able to confront the main march, according to The Guardians.
While the much larger pro-Palestinian rally did not see physical violence, the senior officer said small groups had broken away from the main march, and about 150 people wearing face coverings had fired fireworks which struck officers in their faces, leading to arrests.
Hundreds of thousands of people Saturday also gathered in Belgium capital Brussels to protest the indiscriminate and relentless bombings of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) on Gaza and raids in the Occupied West Bank killing more than 11,000 Palestinians, almost all of them civilians including more than 70 per cent women and children.
Brussels today. Simultaneous mass demos across Europe, rejecting occupation, apartheid, mass murder and genocide, standing with brothers and sisters in Gaza. People in power have abused it. We DEMAND a better world. WE WILL HAVE IT! Free #Palestine. Long live #Gaza. #CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/F4z8bM8Xsb— Clare Daly (@ClareDalyMEP) November 11, 2023
Brussels today. Simultaneous mass demos across Europe, rejecting occupation, apartheid, mass murder and genocide, standing with brothers and sisters in Gaza. People in power have abused it. We DEMAND a better world. WE WILL HAVE IT! Free #Palestine. Long live #Gaza. #CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/F4z8bM8Xsb
From London to Ireland, Scotland to France, Spain to Belgium, Yemen to Bahrain, South Africa to Japan, Jordan to Somalia, Canada to the U.S., and beyond, millions all around the world are marching for Gaza, accorging to Sarah Abdullah, Independent Lebanese geopolitical commentator.
Large protest against the far-right Netanyahu government is also ongoing in Israeli capital Tel Aviv Sunday November 12, 2023. The crowd in the Israeli capital is double than what it had seen last Sunday.
The protesters in Tel Aviv are asking for the release of Israeli and foreign captives being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and criticising the Israeli government for the way it is dealing with the crisis.
Many of the protesters on Saturday were friends and family members of the captives and demanded their immediate return, Al Jazeera reported.
“Mr Prime Minister, cabinet members, do not talk to me about conquering, do not talk to me about flattening [Gaza]. Do not talk at all. Just take action … bring them home now,” Noam Perry, whose father was abducted from the town of Nir Oz, told the crowd at the protest, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
Meanwhile, after pushing most of the Palestinians from north of Gaza to south and killing more than 11,000 civilians, Israeli Occupation Forces have now waged a brutal war against hospitals in Gaza.
The Israeli forces are bombing the areas surrounding the Al Shifa, Al Quds, Indonesian and other hospitals claiming they harbor Hamas militants.
The Palestinian Resistance Fighters however rejected these claims and invited UN and international observer to inspect the Gaza hospitals.
The Resistance fighters also accused the Israeli Occupation Forces of levelling unfounded allegations as excuse for the massacre of civilians.
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