Over 800,000 people march in London demanding ceasefire
In a powerful rebuke to the ruling classes of every major imperialist power, huge global protests against the genocide in Gaza continued into the weekend. In London, a massive march of at least 800,000 people, although some estimates place the figure at over one million, took place on Saturday.
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Metropolitan Police ludicrously claimed that 300,000 people marched, a figure dutifully cited by the BBC, Reuters and others. Aerial footage of the densely packed route shows a sea of people, in the largest demonstration in two decades, since one-and-a-half million marched against the Iraq war in 2003. The march was made up overwhelmingly of young people.
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The enormous protest in London was a resounding rebuke to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Sunak and Braverman denounced the rally earlier in the week, with Sunak claiming that Saturday’s planned protest was not just “disrespectful” but, “offends our heartfelt gratitude to the memory of those who gave so much so that we may live in freedom and peace today.”
The protest coincided with Armistice Day in the UK, which commemorates World War I, the first major imperialist conflict for the redivision of the world, which ended with the deaths of some 20 million human beings.
While Saturday’s march calling for a ceasefire in Gaza would seem to be a fitting tribute to commemorate the somber holiday, Braverman, appealing to fascists, who would later make an appearance at the rally, labeled the demonstration a “hate march.” In addition to calling for it to be banned, Braverman said that police were “too soft” on “pro-Palestinian mobs.”
In fact, the only violence on the day was clashes between the police and a few hundred fascist counter-demonstrators demanding access to the Cenotaph war memorial and unsuccessfully trying to mount attacks on the march.
The march was a sea of Palestinian flags and home-made banners, including many denouncing Labour Party leader Keir Starmer for supporting Israel. At least 126 arrests were made. The Metropolitan Police initially stated that the overwhelming majority were right-wing thugs, however, later in the evening police confirmed that some of the arrested were part of a group of 150 “pro-Palestinian” protesters.
Police reported “no issues” with the London march, stating that it moved along the prescribed route.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lied through his teeth by denouncing “violent, wholly unacceptable scenes we have seen from English Defence League and associated groups and Hamas sympathizers attending the National March for Palestine.” He was predictably backed by Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who focused on “appalling cases of antisemitic hate, intimidation, and support for terrorist groups.”
Hundreds rally in Las Vegas against war: “They are not looking at humankind with this, but we are.”
On Sunday, on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, over 500 people rallied and marched to call for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This is at least the fifth protest that has been held in Clark County since October 7 demanding a ceasefire.
While no Democratic Party politicians or trade union officials came out in support of the protest, many young people participated in the march and denounced the US government and Biden administrations’ support for the ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign. Some of the homemade signs read, “Palestinians have the right to resist, Palestinians have the right to exist,” and “silence is violence.”
A WSWS reporter attended the rally, distributed over 100 leaflets, and conducted interviews with attendees, many whom wished not be identified or have their photo taken, out of fear of reprisal.
One protester at the rally told the WSWS he was there, “to raise awareness of the genocide that is going on with Israel’s killing innocent Palestinians. That we are not okay with the US funding genocide, and for, hopefully, the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
“No human being should ever die the way that anyone involved in this is dying,” he added.
Reflecting on the unanimous backing of the US government for the war, expressed in the censure of Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress and one of the handful of politicians to support a ceasefire, he replied, “It’s obviously very disappointing because although I might not agree with some of her political views one of the things that has made America a beautiful country is a freedom of speech and when someone in her position is being censored, it is scary for individual citizens. No matter what your point of view is, that should raise awareness. ‘Now wait a second, my government is jumping in to censor anyone?’ That is never right.
“It always goes back to follow where the money is, where the dollar is coming from and going to.
“To us, we realize that we are the low guy when it comes to this in terms of money. We want to always raise awareness to people…that, wait a second, there’s something more going on as far as the motives of countries, of billionaires, that they are just looking at their financial interests, and they are not looking at humankind with this, but we are. We are looking at innocent children dying…”
A Las Vegas mechanic said he was at the rally to, “stand in solidarity with the Palestinians and our Palestinian community and our community out here in Las Vegas.”
Asked to comment on the role of the Democratic Party in supporting the slaughter, he said, “I couldn’t state enough how much I despise Biden, the administration, the Democratic Party and the United States government as a whole.”
“I have never supported Biden, I thought of him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, same with [Senator Bernie] Sanders, I was never with that guy.”
The worker said he was not aware of the appeal by the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions to block arms to Israel, or recent actions of Belgian and Barcelona workers to refuse to handle weapons bound for Israel. However, upon hearing these developments, the mechanic responded, “I think that’s awesome, I mean less weapons, the better, I am with it.”
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The worker said he had read about the “block the boat” protest in Oakland and Tacoma. “I did see that. People are getting more organized and doing direct action like that. I think it’s awesome.”
Thousands rally in Israel demanding Netanyahu’s resignation as government seeks to crush dissent
Thousands of Israelis took part in rallies across the country on Saturday evening demanding the government secure the immediate release of the hostages held in the Gaza Strip. Demands for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s resignation were widespread.
The main rally took place in Tel Aviv, with demonstrators marching to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) headquarters in the city. People lambasting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for doing nothing to secure the hostages’ release, barely mentioning them in the five weeks since October 7.
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Noam Perry, whose 79-year-old father was seized by Hamas on October 7, said of the government, “Do not talk to me about conquering, do not talk to me about flattening [Gaza]. Do not talk at all. Just take action… bring them home now.’ Another said, “They can’t tell us, ‘trust us,’ but that sentence has had no meaning since October 7.”
Demonstrators in Caesarea, where Netanyahu has his home, demanded his resignation. In Jerusalem, around 1,000 people took part in a silent demonstration in support of the hostages. Demonstrators in the mixed Arab and Jewish city of Haifa called for a new government, saying they refused to wait for the war to end. A convoy then drove down to join the demonstration in Caesarea. Other rallies took place in Beer Sheva and Eilat.
The demonstrations, while small and still reflecting a Zionist opposition to the Netanyahu government, express growing concerns about the purpose and direction of the war that threatens to escalate across the region, putting the survival of the State of Israel at risk.
Thirty-five Israeli Jewish and Arab peace and human rights groups have issued an open letter calling on the government to work for a ceasefire, the release of the hostages and a political and diplomatic solution to the conflict. They said, “It is evident that there is no military solution to this conflict, nor can there ever be one. The only way to stop the bloodshed is a political agreement that will guarantee security, justice, and freedom for both nations.”
The groups include Machsom Watch, Rabbis for Human Rights, the Parents Circle Family Forum, Women in Black, Yesh Gvul, the Arava Institute for Environmental studies and the Jewish-Arab political party Hadash. They called on the government to immediately “promote a broad prisoner deal, stop harming innocent civilians, act to curb the rampant settler violence in the West Bank and stop the persecution and oppression of Palestinian citizens of Israel and of those who express solidarity with the residents of Gaza and oppose the war.”
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Thousands march again in Chicago following Biden’s visit: “There needs to be an alternative to capitalism and imperialism”
Thousands marched in the streets of Chicago again on Sunday to protest the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Demonstrators gathered around the Water Tower Place on Michigan Avenue along the commercial shopping district of the Magnificent Mile.
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The demonstration on Sunday followed one on Thursday evening where over 5,000 protested the visit of President Joe Biden’s visit to Chicago for a fundraiser, chanting “Genocide Joe” over and over at the heavily policed event.
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At the march on Sunday, a number of protestors came to the IYSSE table, purchased literature and signs and spoke at length with a number of reporters from the WSWS.
“It’s atrocious what Israel has been doing against Palestinians for years, and I never supported anything they were doing against Palestinians,” said Han, a public school teacher in a Chicago suburb.
“As far as what Republicans and Democrats have been doing for Palestinians, there were apparently peace talks for a while but I think that turned out to be all fluff, considering they were supporting Israel the entire time. They are two sides of the same coin. If Israel benefits them, why would they support Palestinians?”
When asked how the billions spent on war funding every year affects the US working class, he said, “There’s a hundred things that it could be used for. For one thing, it could go to education. Since I’m a teacher that’s the first thing that comes to mind. It could go toward social programs for the elderly and working class children, to infrastructure in rural areas that don’t have much maintenance done on roads, public transportation access, housing. I don’t want to sound like an isolationist, but there are a hundred things that can be solved here at home instead of going abroad to police the world, so to speak.
“There needs to be an alternative to capitalist and imperialist society and politics, for that matter. They say money’s the root of all evil, but when you follow the dollar signs of what’s going on between Palestine and Israel, you see a lot of it’s tied to US war profiteering companies. And these major corporate interests are supporting Democrats and Republicans during their campaigns.”
Han also spoke to the broader context of opposition to capitalism: “It’s hard for me to justify the belief that capitalism is helping people, and the nonsense that there is a ‘trickle down effect’ of capitalism. Everyone at the top is living fine, but down here we’re all suffering.
“Why do we have to struggle just to make it out here to demonstrate and support Palestinians? I work in a Republican district where a lot of officials are Trump supporters, and I’m concerned for my job if they knew I was here. Why should it be that way? Why does it have to be a struggle for people to put food on the table and have housing? It shouldn’t be that way. These are basic necessities for every human being. It shouldn’t be a struggle to live in any country.”
Ryan, a young actor and worker said, “I’m out here because what’s happening here is incredibly wrong. And because what’s happening is not just relegated to Palestine, not just relegated to Gaza, it’s the entire world. When we fight for the liberation of the Palestinian people, we’re fighting for everybody’s liberation.
“The people who are oppressing the Palestinian people are the same people who are saying that it’s okay to destroy the world for their own profits, for their own profits.
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“So for me, with what Biden is doing, it’s just incredibly disgusting. What’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank is on display for the entire world to see. We just talked about Motaz Azaiza, who is documenting so clearly what is happening on the ground. It’s so easy to get on Instagram and see what he’s posting and see what he’s sharing.
“And then for all that to be in the face of the world, for the president of the United States to authorize billions more dollars to this genocidal government that is trying to eradicate these people… Meanwhile, we have our own problems in this country that can be solved with all that money. It’s just disgusting to me.
“I did vote for Biden in 2020. But now do I even want to vote for anybody at this point? What is the point of engaging with this system, if all it does is it fuels governments like Israel who are committing genocide against innocent people?
“People who are working class or lower class in terms of the social hierarchy rising up and saying, ‘no, this is wrong’ is a beautiful, wonderful thing.”
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Michael, a recent college graduate and electrical engineer, attended the protest to support the Palestinians’ struggle against genocide and demonstrate opposition to the Biden administration’s support for the criminal Israeli regime. “One reason why the US likes having Israel under its thumb so much is so it can have its influence in the Middle East,” he said.
“A four-hour ceasefire isn’t going to do anything. Biden’s policies are just one more example of how the people in Congress don’t actually support the desires of their constituents. It’s becoming increasingly apparent with not only the war on Gaza, but also issues like abortion. They are passing anti-abortion laws when clearly the majority of people are against them. And it’s becoming clearer that even if we vote for these people, they will work in the interests of people who have money.
“I believe that they won’t represent us because of the money incentive. That’s one big byproduct of capitalism. There definitely needs to be a point at which money interests are not such a big driver of geo-political movements. The negatives of the hyper-capitalist nature of America are showing themselves in every facet of our culture, especially in the government.”
A young software worker said, “I came out today because I went to one of these demonstrations near the beginning of the occupation. Nothing has changed since then. It’s just gotten worse. So why wouldn’t I keep going to every demonstration that I can?
“There is just a blatant overarching political machine that is putting profit over people and worst of all lying to people. I think people have been actively been lied to. I think that the systems and information in our world support the powers that are behind the current genocide of Palestinian people and right now that is in plain sight. I get so frustrated every single day when I see horror and nightmares created by my country.”
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“The more people see that this is something that brings people together and the more the people of Palestine and the Palestinian diaspora sees the people supporting them, the more core strength we have, the more gravity there is to a movement like this.
“And people are coming together on a broad base, escaping lines of nationalism, escaping lines of association with particular identities, and finding a wider consensus, that’s where I think power comes from. The world we live in wants to divide people and we can’t have that.”
Largest Australian protests against Gaza genocide yet, blacked out by media
More than 100,000 people joined protests across Australia on Sunday, opposing Israel’s genocidal onslaught against Gaza, in the largest rallies since the bombardment began. The Sydney protest, with over 60,000 participants, was twice as large as some of the previous mobilisations in that city. At least 50,000 turned out in Melbourne, with thousands in the other capital cities.
As was the case around the world, protesters in Australia expressed horror at Israel’s relentless targeting of hospitals, civilian infrastructure and children. There is intense anger and a degree of shock at the federal Labor government’s full-throated support for some of the worst war crimes since the Holocaust.
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The Sydney Morning Herald did not report for several hours on the main event of the day in Sydney. It eventually posted an article, leading with complaints from the New South Wales Labor government about the cost of policing the weekly pro-Palestinian protests. The article featured a small pro-Israel rally held in Sydney on the same day, then stating that “thousands more” had attended the demonstration in defence of Gaza.
Dr. Jasmin Dabboucy, a hospital resident doctor and president of Muslim Health Professionals Australia, told the WSWS: “Demonstrating is the least we can do. As healthcare workers we made an oath to do no harm and to maintain justice, and this is the bare minimum that we can do to raise our voices in support of that. What is happening in Gaza is that lives which our colleagues are trying to save—lives that we made an oath to heal—are being taken, stolen, and it’s beyond unfair. It’s criminal… The plight of the Palestinian people extends beyond their immediate suffering; it reverberates beyond and is felt by everyone around the world. We all need a ceasefire. We all need peace.”
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Tens of thousands join demonstrations across Canada to demand immediate halt to Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza
Tens of thousands of workers and young people joined demonstrations and rallies in some 50 cities across Canada on Sunday to demand an immediate halt to Israel’s genocidal assault on the Palestinians of Gaza. Most of the actions were called by Ceasefire Now, a coalition of “humanitarian, civil society, faith, and labour organizations.”
The demonstrators voiced immense anger and outrage with the far-right regime of Benjamin Netanyahu, which is directing the slaughter, and the Israeli state, which has suppressed and dispossessed the Palestinian people for the past three-quarters of the century. But their condemnations of US President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Justin Trudeau were no less incisive.
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On Friday, Trudeau reiterated that his government opposes a ceasefire. The previous day Canada, had joined the US, Israel and just two other states in voting against a UN General Assembly motion condemning Israel’s ongoing expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
While Sunday’s actions in support of the Palestinians were supposedly backed by more than a dozen major labour organizations, including Unifor, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and the Montreal-area labour councils of the Quebec Federation of Labour and the Confederation of National Trade Union, most saw no organized union presence.
A worker, and one of more than 300,000 members of Unifor, told a WSWS reporter that he was livid that his union had done nothing to mobilize them to oppose Israel’s brutal siege and slaughter of the Palestinians.
In Montreal, about 5,000 people took to the streets. A mother of Tunisian origin and her son told the WSWS, “We don’t want people killed and a genocide.”
Muhammad made clear his opposition to war: “There is no justice,” he told the WSWS. “We have to be standing up against the war everywhere.”
He linked what is happening in Palestine today to past imperialist operations, including Canada’s decade-long participation in the neo-colonial war in Afghanistan: “We went to Afghanistan and came back with hundreds of dead. Why did we have to sacrifice the lives of Canadians in Afghanistan?”
In response to the WSWS reporter’s pointing to the predatory global interests of Canadian imperialism, he said, “I want to see all the soldiers on earth take off their uniforms and throw it in their [the ruling class’] faces.”
Omar, who is a student, told the WSWS, he had learned about the plight of the Palestinians from studying history. “I realized that historically, there was an oppressed and an oppressor.
“We are concentrating on the Gaza Strip, but on the West Bank there are colonialist laws that have even been denounced by the UN and Amnesty International. But unfortunately there are still double standards. For 1,400 deaths we make commemorations, we have all their names and their biographies … on the other hand there are 10,000 (Palestinian) dead and nobody knows a single name. The Israeli government is even using genocidal language…”
In Toronto more than 5,000 people marched through the downtown Sunday afternoon to demand an immediate ceasefire and denounce the Trudeau government’s complicity in the war on the Palestinians. The demonstration was addressed by independent member of the Ontario legislature Sara Jama, who was booted from the New Democratic Party caucus last month after voicing support for the Palestinian struggle. Other speakers included NDP MP Matthew Green, and representatives from Unifor and the National Council of Canadian Muslims.
“It’s important for me to be here and show solidarity with the Palestinians. Because no government seems to be willing to stand up for the poor and oppressed,” one worker told the WSWS.
World Socialist Web Site reporters distributed 500 leaflets to participants. The perspective of turning the protests to the working class was warmly received.
Ceasefire Now advances the bankrupt strategy of pressuring the pro-war Trudeau government to call for an end to the slaughter and promote “peace” in the Middle East. The unions backing Ceasefire Now are strong supporters of the Liberal government, which has backed the far-right Netanyahu regime no less forthrightly than the Biden administration. WSWS reporters fought to turn protesters to the working class, which is the only social force capable of mobilizing on an international scale to put an end to the genocide.
A young demonstrator, Moataz, asked for clarification, saying, “I think it is also a bit about religion.” A WSWS reporter explained how religion is used by the capitalist ruling classes to divide the working class and obscure the real interests at stake. WSWS statements have called for the unity of Palestinian, Jewish, and all sections of the working class to halt the supply and production of military equipment to Israel, and the preparation of a political general strike to stop the genocide. At the conclusion of the discussion, Moataz asked for information about how to join the socialist movement.
Workers and young people in Sheffield and Leeds, UK demand an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza
Members of the Socialist Equality Party attended demonstrations against Israel’s genocide in Gaza held Saturday in Sheffield and Leeds, interviewing workers and young people for the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).
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Bob, a student, said Israel was committing “multiple atrocities a day, war crimes, massacring civilians and using phosphorus on them …that’s just not right and I really want it to stop.”
In response to the Socialist Equality Party’s call for the international working class to be mobilised to stop the war in Gaza, Bob replied, ‘I think that would be a really good idea. That’s something I’d like to see happen. I agree with that. I think the people on the top make all the decisions. We don’t really have a say at the end of the day. We claim to be a democracy but we’re not, I don’t think.”
Mahsood explained, “This is my first protest. One of the reasons I’m participating is that the government wants to ban these demonstration. This is a democracy and we have the right to do this. I want to play a small part in opposing this.
“It’s disgusting that Labor Party leader Keir Starmer has a law background, but even he’s not asking for a ceasefire. He hasn’t really backed down from this stance.
“Any kind of mass movement to stop the atrocities is welcome. The governments aren’t doing anything. They’re trying to keep everything quiet for as long as possible. The workers have to do something.
“If dock workers in Spain and Belgium are taking action to oppose this, then it certainly should be done here, too. People should be raising their voices. Those in power can’t remain in place.”
Leeds
Scarlet, a student, explained, “I am studying a module on genocide and what we can see when we look at genocide in the past, whether it’s the Holocaust or Rwanda or Cambodia, we can see there is a direct parallel with what is happening in Israel right now. Dehumanization has already happened; it is getting to the mass killing. They are killing journalists, they’re killing children, they’re killing civilians. They are keeping people in prisons without fair trial.
“I think it is important to look at the past so that we can stop such things going on in the future. It is important for people to know that this isn’t a one-off thing. It has been happening for 75 years and it is going to continue to happen if the West funds Israel’s genocide.”
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Israeli forces target hospital buildings, patients and healthcare workers in Gaza
In the face of mass popular opposition, Israeli military forces, with full backing of the London, Washington and Berlin continue to commit daily war crimes against the residents of Gaza.
On Friday, healthcare workers, doctors and nurses in London held a powerful protest demanding a ceasefire in an effort to save their Gazan colleagues.
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On Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry issued a statement confirming it cannot release an updated death toll at this time because workers cannot accurately count the dead and wounded, due to the relentless Israel Defense Force targeting of healthcare workers at al-Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza City.
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In a message relayed to major media organizations on Saturday the Ministry said, “As a result of the intense bombardment, the Ministry of Health was not able to accurately tall the number of dead and wounded.”
In their last update on Friday, the Health Ministry confirmed the Palestinian death toll had passed 11,000. On Saturday, Defense for Children-Palestine reported that at least “4,506 Palestinian children” had been killed by Israeli air and ground forces since October 7, with “an additional 1,500 Palestinian children” reported missing, “most of them likely dead under the rubble.”
DCI-Palestine noted that there would “no update to the number of Palestinian fatalities today as Israeli forces are besieging hospitals and cut telecommunications” and that the, “current number of Palestinian child fatalities in Gaza is unknown.”
In a harrowing interview with Al Jazeera, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, al-Shifa Hosptial’s director, confirmed that operations at al-Shifa had been suspended because IDF ground forces are targeting al-Shifas’ buildings and persons moving inside them.
“One member of a medical crew who tried to reach the incubator to lend a helping hand to the babies born inside was shot and killed,” he relayed to Al Jazeera. “We lost a baby in the incubator, we also lost a young man in the intensive care unit.”
Gaza Deputy Health Minister Youssef Abu al-Reesh, who is inside al-Shifa, told Al Jazeera that “39 newborns in the incubators, those babies are fighting against death,” after all the power and generators had been shut off.
In an audio recording posted by Doctors without Borders, also known by its French name, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Dr. Mohammed Obeid, a surgeon at al-Shifa, described an Israeli sniper murdering patients.
“We’re on the fourth floor, there’s a sniper who attacked four patients inside the hospital. One of them has a gunshot wound directly in his neck, and he is a quadriplegic, and the other one was shot in the abdomen.
“Some of the people who go outside the hospital, they want to go to the South. [Israel] bombed them, they bombed their family, in al-Shifa hospital, today and in the morning.”
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Dr. Obeid confirmed that at least two neonatal, that is, newborn, children had died since the hospital lost power.
MSF released a follow-up statement Saturday afternoon confirming that al-Shifa Hospital had “been hit several times, including the maternity and outpatient departments, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries.” A previous MSF statement noted, “our staff are witnessing people being shot at as they attempt to flee.”
Global protests against Gaza genocide
This is the fifth week in a row that millions of working people of all backgrounds have demonstrated against Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing campaign, backed militarily, politically and monetarily by the US-NATO axis.
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This burgeoning anti-war movement comprises workers and youth in every country, including thousands of Jewish people, who are rejecting the libelous slander that opposition to the Zionist-fascist genocide in Gaza is “antisemitic.”
While over 800,000 marched in London on Saturday, massive demonstrations and protests occurred in other major cites around the world, including New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Dublin, Karachi and Barcelona.
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Australia saw its largest demonstrations since the Israeli onslaught on Gaza began. Masses turned out, including many young people, who told WSWS reporters it was the first time they had participated in the protests. A significant factor was shock and fury over Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gazan hospitals, and the support it has received from the Australian government.
The police have stopped providing estimates of attendance and the media has stopped serious reporting of the protests. But they were among the largest anti-war demonstrations in the country since 2003.
In Sydney, the protest was twice as big as some of the previous mobilisations, with over 60,000 in attendance. The Melbourne protest was also 50,000 strong or greater.
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In Cape Town, South Africa, tens of of thousands marched in the streets of the capital in support of Palestine. Protesters waved the flag of Palestine and chanted, “1, 2, 3, 4, occupation has got to go, 5 6 7 8, Israel is a racist state,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
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Throughout Europe, major protests drawing tens of thousands of people occurred in dozens of cities. In Paris some 50,000 people marched to the Place de la Republique.
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In a memorial to the over 40 journalists who have been killed in targeted strikes by the IDF, protesters in Paris staged a tribute featuring the names and photographs of the slain journalists. Thousands of people carried Palestinian flags and home-made signs calling for an end to the genocide and denouncing US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as war criminals.
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In Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, tens of thousands protested against the slaughter.
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Similar numbers were seen in Dublin, Ireland, where thousands of workers marched with their families against the Israeli occupation and demanded a ceasefire. Pointing to the numerous war crimes committed by the IDF, one protester held a hand-made “bingo card” listing Israeli war crimes, including “bombing of residential buildings, cutting off electricity, food, water, gas, collective punishment, bombing hospitals, forced transfer…”
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Thousands marched in Barcelona, Spain, where workers demanded an end to “impunity for war crimes, apartheid and the massacre of the Palestinian people.”
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Significantly, for the second week in a row, in Tel Aviv, Israelis protested against the war. Demonstrators carried signs calling for a prisoner exchange and ceasefire now. Several signs also read, “war is no solution” and “one massacre does not justify another.”
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The World Socialist Web Site will be updating this post throughout the weekend with on-the-ground reports from around the world.
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Hundreds of demonstrators protest Israeli genocide in Venice, California
Around 250 protesters gathered in Venice, California on Saturday to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Jewish people with the group IfNotNow protested against the genocide and asserted their revulsion over the criminal policies of Zionism in general and Benjamin Netanyahu specifically.
An Israeli protester spoke to the WSWS: “The genocide must stop now. Palestinians are not treated like human beings and that has to stop. Everyone should have equal rights.”
Sarah, a worker, remarked: “For many in my generation, it is impossible to look at the unfolding events and not see how wrong this is. My generation is coming into conflict with a reality that makes no sense and offers nothing, a reality based on abuse and the lack of a future.”
Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the resurgence of imperialist barbarism
In the face of mass protests involving millions of people throughout the world, the Israeli government is escalating its genocidal assault on Gaza.
Throughout the day Friday, Israel bombed and burned hospitals in Gaza City, which is being invaded by Israeli forces. Israel attacked six hospitals, including two children’s hospitals, in the span of 24 hours.
The head of Al-Shifa Hospital, Muhammad Abu Salmiya, told Al Jazeera, “This day was a day of war on hospitals.” This included the direct strike on the front gate of Al-Shifa hospital, where thousands of refugees are sheltering. Videos shared online show the use of white phosphorus against the hospital, a blatant violation of international law.
The actions of the Netanyahu regime have the active support and are being coordinated with the US-NATO powers, and in particular the Biden administration, which repeatedly and insistently rejects a ceasefire and any limits or conditions on Netanyahu’s actions.
This past week, US President Joe Biden declared that there is “no prospect” of a ceasefire. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated that there were no “red lines” regarding the killing of civilians by Israel. “That is still the case,” Kirby said. “It’s also true that the airstrikes continue, and it’s also true that civilians are dying in those airstrikes.”
Calls for a ceasefire have been rejected by the entire political establishment, including and not surprisingly the despicable political fraudster, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
The events of the past month are radicalizing millions of people throughout the world, which has found expression in the mass demonstrations against Israel’s genocide. The development of this movement requires an understanding of the underlying causes of the imperialist atrocity.
The universal support by US and NATO for the homicidal actions of the Israeli regime is an extension and deepening of 30 years of unending war, spearheaded by the United States. US imperialism and the NATO alliance saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1990-91 as an opportunity to utilize its unrivaled military force to reimpose shackles on the former colonial world.
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Thousands of workers and youth participate in global protests against Gaza genocide
Workers and youth around the globe continue to stand against Israel’s ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing campaign against the Palestinian people, which is being overseen, supplied and directed by US imperialism and its allies. Massive protests encompassing millions of people around the world continued to erupt in major cities, universities and outside major war suppliers on Friday.
Over a month of Israeli war crimes have sickened and imprinted themselves on the consciousness of an entire generation. Through the internet and social media, millions have broken through the official lies proffered by the Israeli government, its allies, the mainstream press and television networks used to justify the 75 year occupation and current genocidal campaign.
As of this writing, major protests are occurring, or are scheduled for this weekend, in major cities around the world.
In New York City Friday night, thousands of people gathered at Columbus Circle in Manhattan and marched outside the New York Public Library. Protests chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” and condemned the role played by the New York Times in covering up Israel’s genocide in Gaza as they passed by the newspaper’s building.
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Brandeis and Columbia universities suspend pro-Palestinian student groups
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) opposes and condemns the decision by Columbia University and Brandeis University to disaffiliate pro-Palestinian student organizations as an unacceptable attack on the democratic rights of the entire student body and the working class.
After far-right Florida Governor Ron DeSantis banned the Students for Justice for Palestine (SJP) in the state university system, Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, on Monday became the first private university to ban the chapter from campus. Echoing the rhetoric of both the Israeli government and figures like DeSantis, the university claimed that the student group “openly supports Hamas, a terrorist organization.”
Brandeis University President Ronald Liebowitz published an opinion piece in the Boston Globe the same day calling on the administrators of higher educational institutions across the US to suppress any pro-Palestinian sentiment on campuses. He libeled students and faculty opposed to the US-backed genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza as celebrating “the barbaric killing of Jews just because they are Jews” and wrote that universities “should confront antisemitism on campus” and pull funding from all organizations not fully backing imperialist barbarism.
On Wednesday, Harvard University Chabad President Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi called on the university to ban the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), which has over 20,000 followers on Instagram and has faced relentless attacks since October 7 for its support of Palestinian resistance to oppression.
On Thursday, at Brown University 20 students were arrested for staging a sit-in protest at the University Hall main building. Hundreds of students reportedly sang and chanted in solidarity outside as the students were loaded into prisoner transport vans by police.
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