| Al Jazeera, January 9, 2009 | |||||
International condemnation of Israel’s two week assault on Gaza has continued, with tens of thousands of protesters calling for end to the military offensive. In Norway on Thursday, at least 40,000 people marched in the capital Oslo, as well as in five other cities, in a protest called by an alliance of about 80 organisations. The demonstration was called after two Norwegian doctors working in Gaza sent messages to Norwegian media about Israel’s assault there. “Our hope is that this gathering will be felt in the Middle East. We want to show the world that people can stand together in peace, no matter what their religious or political view,” Svein Tore Bergestuen, one of the event organisers, told Al Jazeera. Clashes The largely peaceful protest was marred by the detention of at least 27 people after clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Shop windows in the city centre were shattered and police repeatedly used teargas to break up groups of activists. The violence started when about 1,000 pro-Palestinian supporters showed up at a rally sponsored by Norway’s largest opposition party in support of Israel. Television pictures showed them burning Israeli flags and throwing projectiles at police. “This has nothing to do with the situation in Gaza,” Johan Fredriksen, chief of staff of the Oslo police, told the website of the Aftenposten newspaper. “These people came to the protest with knives, bats and Molotov cocktails,” he said, speaking about the pro-Palestinian side. Other protests Demonstrations were also held in Venezuela, Tehran, Khartoum and Sarajevo.
In an address to thousands in Tehran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, criticised some Muslim majority states for not supporting the Palestinians.Thousands also gathered in the Sudanese capital Khartoum to express their solidarity with Gaza, some brandishing models of rockets. Several hundred people gathered in freezing conditions in front of the US embassy in Sarajevo and called for Washington to use its influence to stop Israeli attacks on Gaza. In Venezuela, protesters condemning Israel sprayed graffiti and hurled shoes at the country’s embassy, backing the decision by Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s president, to expel the Israeli ambassador. About 1,000 demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and chanted “Gaza, hold on! The world is rising up!” The protest came two days after Chavez ordered Shlomo Cohen to leave in protest over the war and Israel says it is considering expelling Venezuelan diplomats in response. |
Tags: demonstrations, international condemnation, israeli attack on Gaza, Khartoum, Norway, Oslo, Tehran, Venezuela
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