Current:Home > ScamsEuropean rallies urge end to antisemitism as pro-Palestinian demonstrations continue worldwide -Capitatum
European rallies urge end to antisemitism as pro-Palestinian demonstrations continue worldwide
View
Date:2025-04-17 19:16:59
LONDON (AP) — Thousands of people were rallying in Berlin and London on Sunday to oppose antisemitism and support Israel, while demonstrations in support of Palestinians in besieged Gaza continued around the world.
Some of those who gathered in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate carried Israeli flags or posters with photos of some of the more than 200 people seized by Hamas as hostages during the militants’ deadly Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.
“It is unbearable that Jews are living in fear again today — in our country of all places,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told the crowd. “Every single attack on Jews, on Jewish institutions is a disgrace for Germany. Every single attack fills me with shame and anger.”
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz inaugurated a new synagogue in the eastern city of Dessau and said he was “outraged” by the upsurge in antisemitism since the conflict began.
Several buildings in Berlin where Jews live had the star of David painted on doors and walls, and assailants threw two Molotov cocktails at a synagogue in Berlin last week.
“Here in Germany, of all places,” Scholz said, vowing that “our ‘never again’ must be unbreakable.”
In London, the Board of Deputies of British Jews called for people to rally in Trafalgar Square on Sunday afternoon to press for the return of more than 200 people taken hostage by Hamas.
The war has raised tensions worldwide, leaving Jewish and Muslim communities feeling under threat. London’s Metropolitan Police force says it has seen a 13-fold upsurge in reports of antisemitic offenses in October compared to last year. Reports of anti-Muslim crimes have more than doubled.
Sunday’s rallies came a day after tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators – 100,000 by police estimates – marched through the British capital to demand Israel stop its bombardment of Gaza. Waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Stop bombing Gaza,” participants called for an end to Israel’s blockade and airstrikes launched in the wake of Hamas’ brutal incursion.
Authorities in Gaza say more than 4,600 people have been killed in the territory since the latest war began. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, majority of them civilians slain in the Oct. 7 attack.
Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive. Egyptian media said 17 trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed into the besieged strip on Sunday, after 20 trucks were allowed to enter Gaza on Saturday across the southern Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
On Sunday hundreds of people gathered in Sarajevo -- bombed and besieged during the Bosnian war in the 1990s -- to show solidarity with the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.
“What is happening in Gaza is simply human disaster. Collective punishment. War crimes. These things have to be named by their rightful name,” said Nabil Naser, a Palestinian doctor who worked in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.
More than 3,000 people attended a “Freedom for Palestine” rally on Sunday at a square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Waving Palestinian flags and to the beat of drums, protesters including women and children chanted “Palestine will never die” and “From the rivers to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Malaysia is a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, and has no diplomatic ties with Israel. Muslims in the country have staged weekly rallies after Friday prayers outside the American Embassy, slamming the U.S. for its support of Israel.
Retiree Munir Izwan urged neighbors of the Palestinians to step up efforts to help.
“Even in Islamic teachings, the closest neighbors should help the most in making peace between the two parties. But from what I see, the neighboring countries of Palestine, they are only talking but no actions,” Munir said.
Demonstrations of support of the Palestinians were held Saturday across Europe -- in Rome, Barcelona, several French cities, Düsseldorf, Germany and the Kosovo capital, Pristina – as well as in Sydney and in U.S. cities including Los Angeles and Houston.
In Istanbul, protesters outside the Israeli Consulate on Saturday evening held children’s stuffed toys to draw attention to the large number of Palestinian children killed in Gaza. Protesters affiliated with Islamic groups held signs reading “I have a right to play” and held up toys with signs on them that called on Israel to “stop murdering innocent children.”
___
Associated Press writers Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Jill Lawless in London and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia contributed to this report.
veryGood! (3318)
Related
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Tom Brady Mourns Death of Former Patriots Teammate Ryan Mallett After Apparent Drowning
- A train carrying ethanol derails and catches fire in Minnesota, evacuation lifted
- Anne Arundel County Wants the Navy’s Greenbury Point to Remain a Wetland, Not Become an 18-Hole Golf Course
- John Galliano out at Maison Margiela, capping year of fashion designer musical chairs
- Man arrested 2 months after fight killed Maryland father in front of his home
- Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder fined $60 million in sexual harassment, financial misconduct probe
- Panera rolls out hand-scanning technology that has raised privacy concerns
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- Too many subscriptions, not enough organs
Ranking
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- The U.S. Military Emits More Carbon Dioxide Into the Atmosphere Than Entire Countries Like Denmark or Portugal
- Actor Julian Sands Found Dead on California's Mt. Baldy 6 Months After Going Missing
- How Pay-to-Play Politics and an Uneasy Coalition of Nuclear and Renewable Energy Led to a Flawed Illinois Law
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Binance lawsuit, bank failures and oil drilling
- Inside Clean Energy: What’s Cool, What We Suspect and What We Don’t Yet Know about Ford’s Electric F-150
- GEO Group sickened ICE detainees with hazardous chemicals for months, a lawsuit says
Recommendation
Dick Vitale announces he is cancer free: 'Santa Claus came early'
Even Kate Middleton Is Tapping Into the Barbiecore Trend
Social Security is now expected to run short of cash by 2033
The Biden administration sells oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico
Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
EPA Struggles to Track Methane Emissions From Landfills. Here’s Why It Matters
Why G Flip and Chrishell Stause Are Already Planning Their Next Wedding
Photo of Connecticut McDonald's $18 Big Mac meal sparks debate online