Israel-Gaza conflict: Pro-Palestine protests rage across Europe

Crowds descend upon major European cities to protest against Israeli bombings

A pro-Palestine supporter takes part in a protest in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters

A protester waves a Palestinian flag during a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians called over the ongoing conflict with Israel in Paris. AFP

Protesters in Geneva, Switzerland, show messages of solidarity with Palestinians in their conflict with Israel. EPA

A young Palestine supporter carries a placard in front of riot police during a demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in London, Britain. EPA

A pro-Palestinian protester holds a banner during a demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in Athens, Greece. Reuters

With flags of Palestine in hand, hundreds of people demonstrate at the Hauptwache in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. dpa via AP

A supporters waves the Palestinian flag atop a traffic light pole during a demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in London, Britain. EPA

A woman with the word "Palestine" written in Arabic on her forehead takes part in a demonstration marking the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba, which translates as catastrophe, in Madrid. AFP

Pro-palestinians supporters wave flags and hold placards as they take part in a demonstration in solidarity with the Palestinians called over the ongoing conflict with Israel, outside the Israeli embassy, in Athens. AFP

People wave Palestinian flags during a demonstration marking the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba in Madrid. AFP

Palestine supporters march in a procession marking the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba in Madrid. AFP

A woman holds a Palestinian flag as protesters face the anti-riot police during clashes as part of a rally organized by several associations in support of the Palestinian people, in Paris, France. EPA

A show of support for Palestinians in London, as protesters gather outside the Israeli Embassy. Getty Images

Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters in London wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the conflict with Israel. AFP

Protesters gather at Hermannplatz to march on Nakba Day to demonstrate for the rights of Palestinians in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

Demonstrators with flares, flags and placards during a demonstration of support for Palestinians outside the Israeli embassy in central London. AFP

Banners supporting the Palestinian cause are paraded by demonstrators in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images

People attend a demonstration to mark the Nakba and in support of Palestinians in Berlin, Germany. Reuters

Iraqi women take part in a march in the capital Baghdad's Tahrir square on the 73rd anniversary of the Nakba. AFP

Thousands of protesters in major European cities marched in support of Palestine on Saturday.

In London several thousand protesters carrying placards reading "Stop Bombing Gaza" and chanting "Free Palestine" marched towards the Israeli embassy in Kensington High Street.

Organisers claimed as many as 100,000 people had gathered for the demonstration, but London police said they were unable to confirm any figure.

"The group is spread across a large area, which makes it impossible to count them," a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.

"Officers are engaging with a group of people who have gathered for a demonstration in central London this afternoon," the police said in a separate statement, adding that a plan was in place to curb the spread of Covid-19.

"This time is different. This time we will not be denied anymore. We are united. We have had enough of oppression," Palestinian Ambassador Husam Zomlot told the demonstrators.

"Today we are saying enough, enough with the complicity," he said.

Simon Makepace, a 61-year-old accountant told AFP he joined the protests because "the whole world should be doing something about it, including this country".

He was critical of the US, which he said was unfairly backing Israel, and urged Washington to "make peace and stop what's happening".

Azadeh Pyman, a 50-year-old scientist said she had been raised on the Palestinian cause by her parents and grandparents.

"I'm not Palestinian originally but my heart bleeds for Palestinians," she said. "I think it's the cause that will go from one generation to another generation, until Palestine is free."

In Madrid, about 2,500 people, many of them young people wrapped in Palestinian flags, marched to the Puerta del Sol plaza in the city centre.

"This is not a war, it's genocide," they chanted.

"They are massacring us," said Amira Sheikh-Ali, a 37-year-old of Palestinian origin.

"We're in a situation when the Nakba is continuing in the middle of the 21st century," she said, referring to the "catastrophe", a word used by Palestinians to describe Israel's creation in 1948 when hundreds of thousands fled or were driven out.

"We want to ask Spain and the European authorities not to collaborate with Israel, because with their silence, they are collaborating," said Ikhlass Abousousiane, a 25-year-old nurse of Moroccan origin.

The marches came amid the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence since the 2014 war in Gaza.

Thousands marched in Berlin and other German cities following a call by the Samidoun collective.

Three marches were authorised in Berlin's working-class Neukoelln southern district, home to large numbers of people with Turkish and Arabic roots.

The protesters shouted "Boycott Israel" and threw paving stones and bottles at the police, leading to several arrests.

Other protests were held in Frankfurt, Leipzig and Hamburg with demonstrator @theleovre tweeting these pics.

On Tuesday Israeli flags were burnt in front of two synagogues in Bonn and Muenster.

Police officers used tear gas and water cannon in Paris to try to disperse a pro-Palestinian rally held despite a ban by authorities.

Some threw stones or tried to set up roadblocks with construction barriers but for the most part police pursued groups across the district while preventing any march toward the Place de la Bastille as planned.

Around 500 people rallied in in front of the Israeli embassy in Athens too. Greek police used water cannon to disperse them and minor scuffles ensued.