AMMAN, Oct 20 — Protesters from Jakarta to Tunis as we speak demanded an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza after almost two weeks of intense air and artillery strikes that authorities there say have killed 4,100 individuals.
Israel is gearing up for a floor struggle within the tiny, crowded Palestinian enclave geared toward eradicating Hamas, the militant Islamist group that rampaged into Israeli cities on October 7, killing 1,400 individuals and seizing hostages.
While some Western governments have voiced help for Israel’s navy campaign, many Muslim states have known as for a right away ceasefire, with lots of their individuals offended at situations in Gaza and expressing solidarity with Palestinians.
Protests all of the sudden erupted throughout a lot of the area late on Tuesday after Gaza authorities mentioned tons of of individuals had been killed in a blast at a hospital. Hamas mentioned an Israeli airstrike was accountable. Israel blamed a failed rocket launch by a Palestinian group.
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In Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994, however the place a lot of the inhabitants additionally holds Palestinian citizenship, greater than 6,000 protesters marched within the centre of the capital whereas 1000’s extra rallied close to the Israeli embassy.
Protesters voiced help for Hamas, urging it to assault Israel with rocket strikes and suicide bombings, and addressing the Palestinian group with the mantra: “We are your military.”
Thousands of demonstrators additionally gathered in every of Turkey and Egypt, two different nations which have lengthy had full diplomatic relations with Israel, demanding an end to the bombing.
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About 2,000 individuals gathered in entrance of Istanbul’s Beyazit Mosque, burning an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and waved Palestinian flags. Some held placards studying: “Stop the genocide” and “Terrorist Israel”.
In Egypt, 1000’s of protesters stood on the al-Azhar mosque, one of many oldest within the world, chanting “Where is the Arab military?”, whereas others gathered on the central Tahrir Square.
Some demanded navy motion in opposition to Israel, others mentioned Arab states ought to think about using different strategies to cease the bombardment of Gaza. Egypt borders Gaza however has not been ready to negotiate a gap of its crossing to enable in assist.
“Palestine is the one nation that unites our voices. If the Gulf nations don’t ship assist, no less than they need to cease sending oil and gasoline. That’s the least they need to do,” mentioned protester Mohammed Gomaa in Cairo.
A big crowd gathers for the ‘Free Palestine’ rally in Masjid Negara Kuala Lumpur October 13, 2023. — Picture by Miera Zulyana
Burning flags and effigies
In Morocco, the place the federal government agreed in 2020 to normalise ties with Israel in return for US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, Islamists and leftists mentioned they’d maintain a sit-in afterward Friday.
Hundreds of individuals marched in central Tunis, a smaller protest than ones which have rallied there in opposition to Israel’s Gaza campaign in current days. Others demonstrated in entrance of the US embassy.
“The actual terrorism is Israel and America, which helps it,” mentioned Souhail Ben Nasser, a protester within the Tunis crowd.
In south-east Asia tons of of individuals gathered to protest close to the US embassies in every of the Indonesian and Malaysian capitals, burning Israeli flags and stamping on photos of Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.
“Today we collect right here with the identical intention to condemn the felony act by Israel,” mentioned Qilla Marisa, a protester in Kuala Lumpur.
Muslims in India staged smaller protests in Jaipur and Mumbai, holding up placards studying “Free Palestine”.
Israel’s greatest regional foe Iran, and allied teams around the area, additionally held state-sanctioned protests. In Iraq, Shi’ite militias backed by Tehran mobilised tons of of supporters in Baghdad close to the bridge main to the fortified Green Zone the place the US embassy is positioned.
On Iraq’s border with Jordan, tons of of supporters of Iran-backed paramilitary teams staged a sit-in to voice help for Gaza, introduced in by bus. “We are going to help our individuals in Palestine,” mentioned one in all them, 26-year-old Hussein Samir. — eNM
