Hundreds of Thousands March against Zionism

Hundreds of Thousands March in 'Day of Rage' Against Israel

As airstrikes continued to rain down on Gaza, Palestinian groups call for international arms embargo against Israel

by

Lauren McCauley, staff writer

Nearly a quarter of a million people marched in Cape Town, South Africa in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. (Photo: Che Erasmus Nche / Eras Media Productions via BDS South Africa)

As Israeli airstrikes continued to rain down on the the Gaza Strip on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are taking to the streets in an international Day of Rage to condemn the attacks and demand that their governments do their part and boycott Israel.

In an open letter announcing the demonstration, a coalition of Palestinian groups organized by the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, write: "As we face the full might of Israel’s military arsenal, funded and supplied by the United States and European Union, we call on civil society and people of conscience throughout the world to pressure governments to sanction Israel and implement a comprehensive arms embargo immediately."

Taking up their call, an estimated 170,000 people took to the streets of Cape Town, South Africa in one of the biggest demonstrations the city has seen in 20 years. According to reports, Archbishop Desmond Tutu joined the marchers who carried signs that read: "Africans understand colonialism," and “Zuma suffer of (sic) historical amnesia."

In London, over 100,000 people rallied in Hyde Park in a massive outpouring of solidarity and in Paris activists marched through the city carrying a large banner which read: "Boycott Israel Apartheid."

New Yorkers march against Israeli war on Gaza

Around 1,000 people took to the streets of Columbus Circle to protest Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip and call for an end to U.S. support to Israel.

World Bulletin / News Desk

Around 1,000 people rallied in New York City Friday to protest against Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip which have killed over 1,600 Palestinians since July 7.

At an event called the "Mass Rally to Stand Up with Gaza Against Israeli Crimes," the crowd marched through the streets of Columbus Circle waving Palestinian flags and holding signs calling for an end to Israeli apartheid, and U.S. aid to Israel.

The large group gathered outside CNN’s offices where they protested against the network's "biased coverage" of Israel's war on Gaza before marching to the offices of Fox News amid chants of “Free, free, Palestine” and other slogans.

The protest was relatively peaceful apart from an incident where two counter-protesters engaged in a lengthy verbal dispute with the demonstrators until police broke it up.

Waters were not calm on the other side of the pond in the Belgian capital, Brussels either where hundreds of people gathered at Martyrs' Square on Friday to protest against Israel's war on Gaza, and commemorate the thousands of Palestinians killed in the Israeli attacks.

At an event organized by the the Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB), the crowd left flowers and prayed for the hundreds of children killed by Israeli air strikes, chanting slogans such as "Child murderer Israel."

"We cannot remain silent when people are dying in Gaza. Nobody can expect us to be indifferent," said Youssef Handichi, Brussels regional deputy for the PTB.

"We condemn the terrorist and oppressor Israel," Handichi said.

Another pro-Palestine rally is planned for Sunday in the U.S. capital Washington D.C. where a large crowd is expected to march from the White House to the Congress.