Global protests as Gaza assault enters day 14

The world slams silence on Gaza genocide

DUBAI (AlArabiya.net, Agencies)

Protests condemning Israel's ongoing assault against Hamas in the Gaza Strip were held worldwide Friday, with the largest taking place after Friday prayers in the Egyptian Mediterranean port city of Alexandria drawing 50,000.

Legislators affiliated with the opposition Muslim Brotherhood led the protest that echoed to such slogans as "Down with Israel and with every collaborator."

The anger was directed not only at the Jewish state, but at Arab governments deemed to be complicit in the ongoing Israeli blockade of Gaza that has stopped refugees from getting out and humanitarian aid from getting in.

Protest slogan

"Gaza, excuse us -- opening Rafah is not in our hands," went another slogan, referring to the Gaza-Egyptian border crossing that President Hosni Mubarak's government in Cairo is refusing to keep open permanently.

A security official put the turnout at 50,000. Riot police were seen in Alexandria trying to prevent the demonstration from taking place -- only to give up because of the sheer numbers of protesters.

Clashes

Protests in many Muslim nations over the ground offensive in Gaza have continued to grow

In the Egyptian capital, riot police foiled demonstrations outside a number of mosques after the Ministry of Religious Affairs instructed imams not to refer to Gaza in their sermons.

"They were warned to stay away from the Hamas topic and not to incite the masses," the security official said, adding that 35 opposition activists had been arrested in the morning.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, fist fights broke out between supporters of Hamas and the rival Fatah faction during a "day of wrath" protest, prompting police to intervene with tear gas and baton charges.

Thirteen people were taken to hospital, and several others detained.

Some 3,000 demonstrated at the behest of Hamas in Hebron, throwing stones at Israeli soldiers who responded with rubber bullets. Several thousand meanwhile shouted "Death to Israel" in Nablus, while young Palestinians clashed with police in Jerusalem.

The Arab world

Protesters hold Palestinian flags during a demonstration in front of the Egyptian embassy in Ankara

In Kuwait, around 3,000 gathered outside parliament and the seat of government, shouting "shame, shame" against Arab inaction in Gaza.

In the United Arab Emirates, thousands of protestors rallied in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah after the Friday prayers. Angry protestors chanted slogans condemning Israel's bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip. A national campaign kicked off in the UAE for collecting donations in support of the citizens of Gaza.

In Jordan, police stopped more than 2,000 demonstrators from reaching the Israeli embassy in the capital Amman. The crowd had set off from Friday prayers at the Kaloti mosque, about a kilometer (half-mile) away.

The protesters chanted "No Israeli embassy on Arab territory.”

Unable to reach the embassy, protesters instead set up a symbolic cemetery in memory of the nearly 800 killed so far in Gaza, with the word "Gazan" scrawled on each mock grave.

Angry followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr crowded into Baghdad's Sadr City to condemn Washington's support for Israel, torching U.S. and Israeli flags.

About 2,000 Sadr supporters, many waving Iraqi and Palestinian flags gathered in front of the cleric's organizational headquarters in the eastern slum of the Iraqi capital to take part in weekly Friday prayers.

"We sympathize and understand the suffering on the people in Gaza, and the reason for their misery is the evil trinity of America, Israel and Britain," prayer leader Sheikh Jassem al-Motairi told worshippers. Participants responded by chanting: "No, No, to the Occupier."

As prayers came to an end a group of youths torched Israeli and U.S. flags before people dispersed.

Several thousands rallied in Algiers after Friday prayers, burning Israeli flags and denouncing Tel Aviv and its key ally Washington. "The army and the people are with you Gaza," they shouted, adding: "Take us to Gaza."

European protests

Kenyans shout slogans while taking part in a protest against Israeli military operations in the Gaza

In Europe, more than 2,000 demonstrated in Athens and Thessaloniki at the behest of the Greek communist party, setting fire to U.S. and EU flags outside the U.S. embassy and the Israeli flag outside the Israeli mission.

Smaller protests, varying from several dozen to several hundred people, took place in Bucharest, Vienna, Prague, and The Hague where the Dutch parliament's foreign affairs committee debated the Gaza conflict.

In Italy, a small group representing merchants in Rome, Flaica-Uniti-Cub, called on its website for a boycott of Jewish businesses "as a sign of protest" -- an idea swiftly denounced as incitement to racial hatred.

Riccardo Pacifici, leader of the Jewish community in Rome, said he will take legal action against the group, while Mayor Gianni Alemanno branded the initiative "mad and criminal."

In Belgium, the francophone FGTB labor federation threatened its Israeli counterpart Histadrut with expulsion from the International Trade Union Confederation if it fails to call for "peace without conditions."

In Norway, six people were injured and 31 arrested when 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters attacked a pro-Israeli demonstration in Oslo on Thursday, in the worst such violence in the capital since the 1980s.

Asia and Africa

Indian activists hold placards and shout anti-Israeli slogans during a protest in New Delhi

In Asia, about 200 women protested outside the Egyptian embassy in Jakarta, brandishing posters of dead and wounded Palestinian children and urging Egypt to open its border with Gaza.

"As mothers, we feel sad for the women who lost their children in Palestine," said Nani Handayani, of women's welfare group Salimah or Muslim Sisterhood. "They are in our prayers."

In Malaysia, Islamic groups urged a boycott of U.S. brands such as Coca-Cola -- and a former prime minister told Malaysians working for Starbucks or McDonald's to quit -- during a protest by around 300 people outside the National Mosque in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Riot police in Indian-controlled Kashmir used tear gas to disperse hundreds of Muslims protesting against Israel's continued military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

At least 10 civilians and six policemen were wounded in the clashes in the main city of Srinagar, a police officer said, asking not to be named.

Hundreds of protesters emerged from region's main mosque and chanted "death to Israel" and "long live Palestine."

They also set fire to Israeli flags, before trying to march towards the city centre -- a move promptly blocked by the police who fired tear gas.

In Kenya, the police fired tear gas and used water cannons to disperse hundreds of Muslims who had gathered after Friday prayers in Nairobi to protest against Israel's deadly raids in the Gaza Strip.

Close to a thousand demonstrators started chanting slogans in solidarity with the Palestinians outside the capital's Jamea mosque.

"No to shedding innocent blood," "End the massacre in Gaza," "Israel, stop killing innocent people," read some of the placards.