Global Anti-Israel Protests Amid Mounting Antisemitism
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/JAKARTA/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Palestine supporters have gathered around the world for sometimes violent protests against Israel, chanting slogans ranging from “Free Palestine” to “Crush the Zionists.”
Protesters expressed outrage about Israel’s retaliatory strikes and ground offensive in Gaza in response to the October 7 attacks when Hamas killed 1,400 people, including babies and toddlers, in Israel and kidnapped hundreds.
The Hamas-run health ministry claimed Sunday that the death toll of Israel’s counter-offensive killed nearly 10,000 people, but those figures were complex to verify independently.
Encouraged by Iran as well as Hamas and Hezbollah, deemed terrorist organizations by Israel and most of its allies, tens of thousands gathered in Washington D.C., while large crowds were also seen in Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital, and Australia.
In Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, Islamic leaders in Indonesia appealed to all mosques to pray for peace and safety for the Palestinian people.
The chairman of the Indonesian Mosque Council had urged all mosques to perform the Qunut Nazilahto prayer, one made for protection, to ask for “Allah’s help” so that “the conflict in the Gaza Strip would end quickly.”
Christians in Indonesia expressed concern about Israel. Some have been praying for Israel and the Jewish people, including in-house gatherings, Worthy News learned.
MORE PROTESTS IN ASIA
Elsewhere in Asia, after prayers in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, some worshippers stepped on U.S. and Israeli flags in a sign of disrespect.
About 1,000 Muslims also rallied in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after Friday prayers to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Chanting “Free Palestine” and “Crush the Zionists,” they burned two effigies draped with Israeli flags.
And Sri Lankan Muslims participated in a protest “against Israeli airstrikes on Gaza people” in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo “to protest against Israel’s bombardment on Gaza.”
Thousands of protesters also gathered in Australia’s cities of Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide for pro-Palestinian rallies after a week of tension between organizers and authorities in New South Wales. An invitation-only rally in Brisbane mourned the Israeli dead.
In the Middle East, in Baghdad, Iraq, large crowds filled Tahrir Square in the center of the Iraqi capital for protests called by the influential Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
In Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, demonstrators took to the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags just days after the Houthi government fired missiles and drones toward Israel.
The 2015 takeover of Sanaa by the Houthis sparked a proxy war between the Iran-backed rebels and the established government supported by Saudi Arabia. It led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with a 2021 report from the U.N. Development Program estimating more than 300,000 deaths as a result of the war.
ALSO RALLIES IN EUROPE
In Europe in Paris, several thousand protesters called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and some shouted, “Israel, assassin!”
Banners on a sound-system truck at the Paris march through rain-dampened streets read: “Stop the massacre in Gaza.” Demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags, chanted, “Palestine will live; Palestine will win.”
Demonstrators also aimed at French President Emmanuel Macron, chanting “Macron, accomplice.”
Paris’ police chief authorized the march from République to Nation, two large plazas in eastern Paris, but vowed that any behavior deemed antisemitic or sympathetic to terrorism would not be tolerated.
Countries across Europe have reported increasing antisemitic attacks and incidents since October 7. In an attack Saturday, an assailant knocked on the door of a Jewish woman in the French city of Lyon and, when she opened, said “Hello” before stabbing her twice in the stomach, according to the woman’s lawyer, Stéphane Drai.
He said police also found a swastika on the woman’s door. The woman was being treated in a hospital, and her life was not in danger, the lawyer told French media.
At the London rally, the Metropolitan Police said its officers made 11 arrests, including one on a terrorism charge for displaying a placard that could incite hatred. The police force had forewarned it would also monitor social media and use facial recognition to spot criminal behavior.
TERRORISM CHARGES IN BRITAIN
On Friday, two women who attended a pro-Palestinian march three weeks ago were charged under Britain’s Terrorism Act for displaying images on their clothing of paragliders. Hamas employed paragliders to get some fighters across the border between Gaza and southern Israel on what has been called the “Black Sabbath” attack on October 7. French prosecutors said the pictures raised suspicion they were supporters of Hamas, which Britain views as a terrorist group.
In Berlin, around 1,000 police officers were deployed to ensure order after previous pro-Palestinian protests turned violent, witnesses said.
German media estimated that about 6,000 protesters marched through the center of Germany’s capital. Several thousand protesters also marched through the West German city of Duesseldorf.
Police banned any public or written statements that are antisemitic, anti-Israeli, or glorify violence or terror after a warning from the country’s leadership. German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck vowed a harsh political response to increasing antisemitism in a video seen at least eight million times.
He condemned antisemitism from Islamists, the far right, and “parts of the political left.” Germany has seen a recent surge in antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents.
The country, still reeling from its role in World War Two, has outlawed the burning of other countries’ flags.
And the vice-chancellor reminded Germans that torching the Israeli flag or praising Hamas’s actions were crimes.
ANSWERING TO GERMAN COURTS
“Anyone who is German will have to answer for this in court,” Habeck said in his message. “Anyone who isn’t German also risks losing their residence status. Anyone who doesn’t yet have a residence permit is giving grounds for deportation,” he said in a clear warning to migrants, most of whom are Muslims.
In Romania’s capital, hundreds gathered in central Bucharest, many waving Palestinian flags and chanting, “Save the children from Gaza.” However, in neighboring Hungary, the government has banned anti-Israel protests, citing anti-terrorism legislation.
Far-right groups were able, however, to hold an alternative rally in front of Parliament against the World Health Organization, which they say wants to enforce its policies, including forced vaccinations on the rest of the world.
Further away, at a rally by several thousand people in Milan, Matteo Salvini, a deputy prime minister, spoke out against antisemitism, calling it “a cancer, a virulent plague, something disgusting.’’
In another part of Milan, a pro-Palestinian rally drew about 4,000 people, and there was also a march by several thousand in Rome, where a student said she lost many loved ones in Gaza and wasn’t able to reach her family.
Students from different universities in the Netherlands also rallied in solidarity with Palestinians. They gathered in The Hague to say that they “reject the Dutch government’s policy of supporting Israel.”
The Netherlands abstained in a recent vote on a United Nations resolution calling Israel to observe a ceasefire. Israel says a truce would mean giving time to Hamas to rearm as part of its plan to destroy Jews and their Jewish nation.
Some protests in the Netherlands and other countries also included demonstrators chanting, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free.” Critics have called that a clear call for the destruction of Israel.
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