Major pro-Palestine demonstrations swept through Europe as protesters demanded stronger global action and condemned Israel’s alleged breaches of the US-brokered ceasefire. [Getty]
European cities held large-scale rallies on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, as demonstrators demanded accountability and drew attention to Gaza’s rising death toll despite the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which was intended to lay the groundwork for ending the war in the devastated enclave.
Protesters filled the streets of Paris, London, Geneva, Lisbon and Rome on Saturday as the UN marked the annual occasion, long associated with advancing the two-state solution and supporting Palestinian statehood.
French media reported that around 50,000 people gathered in Paris, marching from Place de la République to Place de la Nation.
According to France 24, crowds chanted “Gaza, Gaza, Paris is with you” while waving Palestinian flags and holding signs that read “Palestine: we will not be silenced” and “Gaza: silence, people are being killed. Stop the genocide.”
Anne Tuaillon, president of the France Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS)- one of around 80 NGOs, unions and political groups behind the demonstration- said that “nothing has been resolved” after the ceasefire came into effect on 10 October.
“The ceasefire is a smokescreen. Israel violates it every day, blocks humanitarian aid and continues to destroy homes and infrastructure in Gaza. We are calling for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the genocide,” she told AFP news agency.
A number of prominent pro-Palestinian politicians, including France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, joined the march.
In London, an estimated 100,000 people turned out for a demonstration organised by groups including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Stop the War, CND, the Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al-Aqsa and the Palestine Forum in Britain. Protesters gathered at Hyde Park Corner before marching to Whitehall for a closing rally.
PSC director Ben Jamal said the march sought to “reaffirm our commitment to stand with them until freedom and justice is achieved. We will not be deflected or discouraged from that path because it goes to the heart of what kind of world we want to create and live in”.
He also accused Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government of “[continuing] to ally with the Israeli state that is conducting a campaign of genocide, ethnic cleansing and colonisation across Palestine”, adding: “This is a shameful abandonment of the principles of international law and the Genocide Conventions that were meant to prevent the horrors of previous eras from being repeated.”
The UK has witnessed sustained pro-Palestine mobilisations since the outbreak of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023, with demonstrators repeatedly urging the government to impose a full arms embargo on Israel amid growing concern over their use in Gaza.
In Rome, the UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, and climate activist Greta Thunberg attended the main rally.
According to the website Wanted in Rome, around 100,000 people were expected to join the demonstration. In a statement posted on X, Albanese said Israel is “committing genocide against the Palestinians” not only in Gaza but also in the occupied West Bank.
“Look at the totality of conduct/crimes against the totality of the Palestinians in the totality of the land slated for ethnic cleansing. Israel must be stopped, and we will,” she wrote.
Italy has seen repeated mass protests and union-led strikes opposing Israel’s assault on Gaza.
The UN established the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People in 1977 to reaffirm support for the inalienable rights of Palestinians- particularly the rights to self-determination, national independence, sovereignty, and the return of refugees displaced in 1948.
This year’s commemoration coincided with Gaza’s health ministry reporting that more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and over 170,000 injured in Israeli attacks since October 2023.
The Israeli army has also intensified its operations in the occupied West Bank, where more than 1,085 Palestinians have been killed and 10,700 injured in attacks by the military and settlers, with over 20,500 arrests recorded during the same period.
