While Israel’s army plans to expand its ground offensive against
the Gaza Strip, as the bloodiest conflict since 2009 entered its 13th
day with a death toll of over 350, parts of central London were brought to a standstill as
thousands of pro-Palestinians marched in protest against Israel’s
offensive in Gaza, while in Paris a banned demonstration descended into
violence.
Organisers of the London rally claimed that “tens of thousands” of
people joined the march from Prime Minister David Cameron’s office to
the Israeli embassy, many of them chanting “Israel is a terror state”.
Police refused to give an estimate for the number present but several
roads through the centre of the capital were closed during the
4.8-kilometre march, which passed off peacefully.
In Paris, by contrast, clashes broke out after hundreds gathered in
defiance of a ban on their demonstration, with crowds throwing stones
and bottles at riot police, who responded with tear gas.
Some 33 people were arrested by early evening, a police source said,
while three police officers were injured in the disorder near Montmartre
in the north of the French capital.
Protests were permitted in other French cities, where thousands turned
out including in Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg, while several thousand
also rallied in solidarity with the Palestinians in Brussels.
Source: AFP
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