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Thousands in Europe protest against Israel offensive
Thousands of people also voiced their opposition to Israel's military action in rallies in Madrid, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Athens along with other European cities. In London, many demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "Israel terrorists" as they filed along the River Thames before gathering in Trafalgar Square, an AFP reporter saw. Some protesters threw their shoes at the iron gates of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street residence to express their anger at his refusal to condemn Israeli airstrikes, which Palestinian medics say have killed more than 450 people in a week. Brown issued a statement saying he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a phone call to agree to an "immediate ceasefire."
Former Eurythmics star Lennox said the approach of both the Palestinians and Israelis was "wrong" and a total ceasefire was the only option. "For every one person killed in Gaza, they are creating 100 suicide bombers. It's not just about Gaza, it's about all of us," she told the BBC. Elsewhere in Britain, 2,000 people demonstrated in Manchester in northwest England and 500 braved the cold in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. In Paris, where organisers claimed 25,000 turned out for a march led by Communist and left-wing politicians, the crowd chanted "We are all Palestinians" and "Israel killers." Many sported traditional Palestinian scarves. As the protesters dispersed, between 200 and 300 tried to make their way toward the Israeli embassy near the Champs Elysees but were blocked by police barricades. Several cars were set alight as well as Israeli flags, an AFP correspondent reported. Several cars were also torched or overturned and windows smashed in the city's midtown shopping district, but calm appeared to return as of early evening, according to an AFP journalist. Thousands of people also demonstrated in the French cities of Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Mulhouse, with organisers and police again offering vastly different turnout numbers. In neighbouring Spain, more than 2,000 people rallied outside the foreign ministry in Madrid, burning several Israeli flags. Police detained a man who tried to break through a police barrier and injured three police officers. Hundreds of the demonstrators, most of them Arabs, then marched through the streets of Madrid brandishing signs such as "This is not a war but a genocide." Protests were also staged rallies in Greek and Italian cities, with the largest turnout reported in Milan -- an estimated 5,000 people, most of them immigrants. Meanwhile, scuffles took place in front of the Israeli embassy in Athens at the end of a rally that drew about 3,000, pitting stone-throwing demonstrators against police who responded with teargas. Two people were arrested as more than 1,000 marched through Amsterdam condemning the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and calling for a boycott of Israeli goods, police said. More than 2,300 people also demonstrated in the Austrian city of Salzburg, police said. Posted by: Steve White 2009-01-04 |
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