As the Israeli occupying forces continue to use indiscriminate and excessive force against Palestinian civilians, protests against this aggression and the Israeli crimes and in solidarity with the Palestinian people continue around the world.
In Europe protests have been called for daily in various cities. In Copenhagen, Denmark, youths threw stones and clashed with police and bystanders in Copenhagen on Wednesday after a largely peaceful demonstration against Israeli forces' killings of Palestinians erupted into street riots. National TV2 television news showed police in riot gear fighting to keep hundreds of flag-waving Palestinians and other Arabs under control. Earlier up to 5,000 people, most of Arab origin, held a non-violent demonstration permitted by the authorities against the Israeli-Palestinian violence in the West Bank which has left 60 people dead, almost all of them Arabs.
In Oslo, Norway, eleven people, apparently Palestinians, were detained by Norwegian police in a demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in Oslo yesterday. The gathering, arranged by Norwegian pro-peace organizations, was attended by some 100 demonstrators, among them many children, the Norwegian daily Verdens Gang reports.
In Athens, Greece, several organisations and solidarity committees organised a rally on Tuesday, 3 October, 2000 protesting the massacres taking place in Palestine. Palestinians, Arabs, Greeks and other nationalities gathered at the Palestinian Embassy and walked to the Israeli Embassy calling on the Israeli government to put an end to the massacres. The rally demonstrated solidarity to the Palestinians in their Intifada for Jerusalem and showed the unity between Palestinians inside and outside the Palestinian Territories and the green line. More than 400 people attended the rally which was covered by major Greek channels and newspapers.
In the U.S. in various places demonstrations have been organised, in some places daily. In Madison (Wisconsin) around 100 people gathered around the campus area, Library Mall and listened to various speakers. The crowd then marched and chanted to the state capitol building.
In San Francisco (California) over 1400 protestors jammed the streets in front of the Israeli consulate chanting down with Zionist occupation, down with Sharon, and down to the killing of Palestinians. Educational leaflets were passed out to the American public. Supporters from all over the Bay area were there including children and people in wheelchairs--all denouncing the murders of Palestinian children, women, and men. At the same time, Arab business owners, as well as Arab taxi drivers in San Francisco have decided to call for a partial strike on Friday 6 October between 1.00 and 4.00 pm in order to attend the march and rally and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
In Boston, during a debate between George W. Bush and Al Gore about social security and prescription drugs inside the UMass debate hall last night, over 250 demonstrators gathered outside to raise an issue neither candidate addressed: the recent violence in the Middle East. Protesting this week's violent conflicts in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the demonstrators called on the U.S. to withdraw military aid from Israel.
The Harvard Islamic Society (HIS) and the Harvard-Radcliffe Society of Arab Students (HSAS) co-sponsored the protest, joining the Islamic Society of New England, the Islamic Society of Boston (ISB) and groups from throughout the region.
"Look," said Samer Abu-Ghazaleh of the ISB, "we are a group of Muslims, Christians, Americans from different backgrounds who are here to send a message to policymakers in the United States that tax dollars shouldn't go to support inhumane acts of the state of Israel."
Amidst a sea of Gore, Bush and Nader signs, pro-Palestinian demonstrators carried placards reading, "Israel Must Respect International Law," "Sharon Hoots: Barak Shoots" and "Helicopter vs. Children: Not Fair." Small children wearing fake blood splattered on their white t-shirts led the group on their march.
The evening's most emotionally charged moment came when about 150 Muslim members of the group stood and kneeled shoulder to shoulder for prayer at the end of the rally, using placards and jackets for prayer rugs.
In the past few days also in the Arab world, solidarity protests have been daily organised. In Damascus, students from Damascus University pelted some 1,000 university students pelted the U.S. Embassy in Damascus with stones, tree branches and bags of rubbish to protest the death of scores of Palestinians in clashes with Israeli security forces over the past week. The Syrian security forces prevented the protesters from storming the embassy in the upscale Abu Romana area in central Damascus, but a lone student was able to climb onto the roof of the three-story building and bring down the U.S. flag from its mast. The Syrian security forces used batons and tear gas to disperse the students.
In Beirut, Lebanon, more than 20,000 Palestinians and Lebanese marched to the UN House. Student groups from AUB and the Arab University representing much of Lebanon's political spectrum organized a march from the two universities in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in their clashes with Israeli soldiers. In the Rashidieh camp, about 10,000 Palestinian refugees held a similar protest.
Thousands of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese led separate protests from Sidon to Tyre. Demonstrators on scooters, carried hundreds of Palestinian flags and led the crowd down to Riad Solh. As marchers at the front of the demonstration reached the square, people were still moving along the Airport Road, 8 kilometers away. Salim Salam Road was so crowded that Palestinians with diverging political affiliations stood shoulder-to-shoulder.
Many expressed disappointment with the past 10 years of negotiations and were grateful for a new intifada that will "liberate our lands by force."
Dozens of Palestinian children marched to the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tyre and delivered a memorandum demanding ICRC intervention to stop Israel killing children in the Palestinian territories.
Many of the chants during these demonstrations, however, focused on criticizing Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, along with other Arab countries and their people for not taking a stronger stand of solidarity with the Palestinians.
In Karachi, Pakistan, some hundred students protested on Tuesday and torched the Israeli flag to condemn the killings of scores of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli occupation forces. The students, mostly Palestinians studying in this Pakistani port city, gathered outside the Karachi Press Club. Meanwhile, the number of demonstrators at protests in Cairo, Amman and Baghdad on Tuesday reached 10,000.
In Europe, the U.S. and in the Arab world many protests are planned for Friday, 6 October 2000 and there has been a call for the mosques to commemorate the martyrs in the Friday prayers. On Friday, demonstrations are planned in among other cities across the world in Washington, New York, Los Angelos, Chicago, Melbourne (Australia), The Hague (Netherlands), London (UK), Madrid (Spain) and Paris (France).