Rally in Ramallah
Photo: AFP
World remembers 'Cast Lead'
Pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests held around the world on first anniversary of Gaza war
The thousands of Gazans that took to the streets of the Strip on Sunday marking the anniversary of Operation Cast Lead were not alone.
All over the world, pro-Palestinian organizations initiated rallies and anti-Israel protests on the first anniversary of the Gaza war, and used the stage to call for an end to the blockade that has been ongoing for over two years, ever since Hamas took over the Strip.
In Egypt, pro-Palestinians activists from 43 different countries held a march in the capital, Cairo, after local security forces prevented them from lighting candles along the Nile River in memory of the Palestinian victims of the war. The protesters also urged Egypt to allow them entry into Gaza.
Palestinians in the West Bank also identified with the residents of Gaza, and in Ramallah held a rally marking the anniversary of the war, which took the lives of some 1,400 Palestinians.
Israel's neighbor to the east also held a demonstration marking the war. In Amman, Jordan's capital, demonstrators carried signs condemning Israel, and at the height of the protest participants even set fire to the Israeli flag.
In the spirit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's pro-Palestinian statements, a central square in Istanbul was adorned in the colors of the Palestinian flag in a rally and protest attended by hundreds of people. Alongside the commemoration of those killed in the Strip, many anti-Israel chants were also heard.
Pro-Palestinian groups also organized a rally in Geneva, Switzerland, in which dozens of people gathered outside the UN headquarters in the city. The demonstrators chanted anti-Israel slogans and waved signs of images of those killed and injured in the war.
In France's capital, Paris, a march was held in memory of the victims of the war, and participants carried signs that read: "Gaza, we will not forget".
The Far East did not forget about the war either, and in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, students held a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people outside the Israeli embassy in the city. Demonstrators carried signs that read: "Free Palestine".
