PARIS: Protesters around the world Thursday railed at Israel’s interception of a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza’s besieged Palestinians, urging greater sanctions in response.
From Europe to Australia and South America, demonstrators took to the streets to condemn the treatment of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail from Barcelona last month to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza, where the United Nations reports famine conditions after nearly two years of war.
Forty-one ships with more than 400 people aboard, including politicians and climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, were halted by the Israeli navy from Wednesday and prevented from reaching the coastal territory, an Israeli official said.
A boat carrying former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau was among those prevented from proceeding. Colau and her fellow activists, including Nelson Mandela’s grandson Mandla Mandela, face deportation by Israel.
Several hundred protesters also marched outside the Irish parliament in Dublin, where support for the Palestinian cause has often been compared to Ireland’s centuries-long struggle against British colonial rule.
