Tens of thousands took part Saturday in worldwide protests against
Israel's 15-day bombardment and infantry deployment into the Gaza
Strip.
In Germany, more than 35,000 people took to the streets in
demonstrations organized mainly by ethnic Turks, Palestinians and
other predominantly Islamic minorities.
The biggest demonstration in Germany was in the western industrial
city of Duisburg, where 10,000 demonstrators attended a rally
organized by the Milli Gorus Islamic community, a Turkish Islamist
group.
Thousands attended other Turkish-organized demonstrations in the
cities of Mainz, Hanover and Freiburg.
'We wanted to show our solidarity with the people on the ground,'
said a spokesman in Duisburg for Milli Gorus, which demands that
Israel call off the offensive and end its long-term blockade of the
Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas.
Milli Gorus, which says it has 60,000 members in Germany, is
monitored by several of Germany's 16 states on the grounds that its
Islamist objectives may be anti-democratic.
In the capital, Berlin, a crowd of 8,500, mostly Palestinians,
demonstrated against the Israeli operation in a follow-up to a rally
a week ago by 7,000. Many held aloft photographs of injured children.
A woman at the front carried a doll wrapped in 'blood-stained' rags.
Palestinian immigrants also demonstrated by the thousands in the
southern cities of Nuremberg and Munich.
Germany's government has been broadly sympathetic towards Israel,
suggesting the cause of the offensive is the missile bombardment by
Hamas of Israel and demanding that Hamas call this off.
In Paris, tens of thousands gathered, with the organizers claiming
100,000 people at a demonstration organized by the 'Collective for a
just and lasting peace between Israeli's and Palestinians,' and
alliance of lobby groups, trade unions and left-wing parties.
There were protest marches in other French cities and towns.
In London, more than 10,000 people took part in a demonstration,
where some protestors threw shoes at police, burned placards and
tried to break through barriers.
Police said 12,000 people took part in the march from Hyde Park to
the Israeli embassy, while media reports spoke of tens of thousands.
Protests also took place in Belfast, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and
Newcastle.
Jewish organizations plan to hold peace demonstrations in London
on Sunday.
London's former mayor Ken Livingstone, musician Brian Eno and
singer Annie Lennox were among those who supported the protest
Saturday.
Livingstone said the British government and the European Union
should push Israel to 'stop the carnage.'
Over the past week, thousands in various British cities have been
protesting the conflict, hurling shoes at the iron gates in front of
Downing Street.
Shoe-throwing as a form of protest has gained popularity since an
Iraqi journalist made headlines for throwing his shoes at US
President George W Bush in mid-December.
Thousands of people, many waving Palestinian flags, held marches
and rallies in the Italian cities of Milan, Turin and Florence.
Scuffles broke out when some demonstrators set fire to an Israeli
flag while others attempted to stop them during an afternoon march in
downtown Milan, news reports said.
Also in Milan, several hundred Muslims knelt in prayer near the
city's main railway station.
A spokesman for a group representing Palestinians living in Italy
said over a loudspeaker the gesture was meant to signify a 'desire
for peace.'
Similar marches took place in Turin and in Florence, where
demonstrators gathered near the city's famous Duomo Roman Catholic
cathedral.
Saturday's protests were organized by left-wing unions and
political parties as well as peace activists and religious groups.
The US consulate in Auckland was also the target for protestors
hurling shoes. About 500 protestors burned an Israeli flag in what
the organizer claimed was New Zealand's largest pro-Palestinian
demonstration.
Some protestors wore Palestinian flags, and held placards of dead
and mutilated children as they marched through the city centre
chanting, 'How many kids have you killed today, Israel, USA?' Radio
New Zealand reported.
Protest organizer John Minto called on the New Zealand government
to condemn Israel's actions in the conflict.
Ed Brownlee, from the organization Kiwi Friends of Israel, accused
some of the demonstrators of supporting terrorism.
Protests were also held in the Nordic region on Saturday, with
thousands taking part.
In the Norwegian capital Oslo, police decided not to allow
protesters to approach the Israeli embassy in an attempt to avert a
possible repetition of violent scenes on Thursday, when police
were forced to use teargas and arrested some 30 protesters.
At least one member of the militant autonomous group Blitz was
arrested Saturday. The group had called for supporters to flout the
ban against approaching the embassy.
In neighbouring Sweden, several thousand people took part in a
protest in central Stockholm.
In Greece, around 4,000 people gathered in front of the US and
Israeli embassies, shouting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans.
Some protestors threw stones at police. No further incidents were
reported.
The demonstrations were organized by left-wing organizations and
parties. At a demonstration in Athens the previous day, around 6,000
people called for an end to Israel's offensive in Gaza.
Meanwhile, 63 people were reported injured Saturday in clashes
between police and demonstrators who turned violent in central
Algiers late Friday.
Algeria's state news agency APS said 23 police and some 40
demonstrators were injured when thousands protested in Martyrs Square
against Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Stones were thrown and shops were looted when the protest turned
violent. There were further protests in other Algerian cities, the
news agency said.
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