World Rallies Against, For Gaza Airstrikes
Protests against Israel's airstrikes on Gaza continued around the world, as calls for a ceasefire were raised - along with cries for revenge.
Meanwhile, thousands of Jews and Christians are expected at demonstrations to be held this weekend in New York, London, Toronto, Miami, Washington, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv to protest Hamas' rocket attacks from Gaza.
Some activists are billing the demonstrations as counter-rallies against what they call "assemblies of hatred for Jews and Israel."
Sunday's protest in Miami, to be held at the Holocaust Memorial, is billed as the Rally For Israel to Destroy Hamas.
The protests are ramping up as Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip enters its second week, with warplanes and gunboats blasting more than two dozen Hamas positions Saturday.
"We will do all that is necessary to provide a different reality for southern Israel, which has been under constant attacks for the past eight years," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told Channel 2 TV.
The complexity of protesting military strikes in Gaza was recognized as far away from the Middle East as Sioux Falls, S.D., where about 50 people gathered in 16-degree weather Friday near the Islamic Center to denounce U.S. aid to Israel, saying Israel's actions have killed civilians.
Protester Mohamed Sharif of Sioux Falls said they want an immediate cease-fire and humanitarian aid to the people living in Gaza.
"People are being deprived of their necessities, water and medicine and food and clothes. Now they're being killed. This is what we're opposing, the killing of civilians," Sharif said.
South Dakota Peace and Justice Center director Deb McIntyre attended the rally and said the U.S. shouldn't pay for Israel's militarism.
The issue is more complex, others said.
"Certainly, the protesters in Sioux Falls have a legitimate complaint about the Israeli attacks," said Kurt Hackemer, a University of South Dakota history professor. "But the flip side is the Israelis have been taking rocket fire from Hamas for months now. There have been Israeli deaths and casualties."
The bitter divide was evident across the globe.
In Lebanon Saturday, hundreds gathered outside the United Nations compound in Beirut, carrying flags and banners supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement.
Palestinians in Lebanon have been protesting for the past eight days to show their solidarity with the people of Gaza.
A number of Hezbollah lawmakers and supporters also took part in Saturday's protest.
The Head of Hezbollah's political bureau, Mahmoud Qomati vowed that Hamas' response to the Israeli military offensive will be similar to that of Hezbollah during Israel's war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006.
"The resistance in Gaza is preparing surprises for the Israeli enemy," said Qomati, who promised Israelis "will be surprised in Gaza with a fierce, brave, and heroic confrontation which will lead to their defeat, God willing."
Police in Berlin said about 2,000 protestors marched with banners and Palestinian flags from Adenauer Platz to Wittenbergplatz. Protestors chanted "Stop the child murder at Palestine" and "Stop the blockade at Palestine."
Protestor Achmed Otur said Israel's policy with the Palestinians "just creates distrust between East and West, between Muslims and Christians and Jews. It only divides and all trust is destroyed in this kind of world."
While international pressure for a ceasefire has been growing, protestor Malik Hamudsaid said, "We only see conferences talking about fighting terrorism one day. Is this how one fights terror, by slaughtering people and by saying you are not allowed to do something? Terror is when you spread fear and terror among the civilians, and what Israel is doing is pure terror."
In The Netherlands, thousands of people marched through Amsterdam, criticizing both the Israeli attacks and the Dutch government's failure to condemn them. One banner declared: "Anne Frank is turning in her grave."
Barbed Wire And Skulls
In Bogota, Colombia, demonstrators walking through the streets set fire to self-styled Israeli and U.S. flags, complete with drawings of barbed wire and skulls.
Ali Nofal, a protester of Palestinian origin participating at the rally in the Colombian capital, said that an end to the Gaza conflict is in the hands of the Israeli government, "because we, the Palestinian people, have nothing to say to this policy of aggression. The entire world and the U.N. Council have the way to end this, the Western world has the way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
In Cyprus, 2,000 demonstrators, including Palestinians and Greek and Turkish Cypriots, converged Saturday in the center of the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. It was the largest protest on the Mediterranean island so far on the issue of Gaza.
The peaceful rally turned violent when some protesters tried to pull away barbed wire and break through a line of riot police blocking a road leading to the Israeli embassy.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators pelted Cypriot riot police with rocks, sticks, shoes and oranges.
The demonstrators eventually stopped and dispersed after protest leaders pleaded with them to stop.
In Athens, however, a protest march turned violent, as protesters threw stones and fire bombs at riot police, who retaliated with tear gas and stun grenades.
An estimated 5,000 protesters marched from the city center to the Israeli embassy on Saturday. Police cordoned off the embassy.
Most of the protesters were Palestinians but leftist organizations and union members also joined in. Outside the embassy, anarchist youths joined the fray, targeting Greek police rather than the embassy. An Israeli flag was burned by demonstrators.
Some protesters also threw stones at the U.S. embassy without causing damage.
In Jakarta, hundreds of Indonesians from various Muslim groups staged a protest in front of the U.S. embassy on Saturday to voice their concern over Israel's military offensive on Gaza.
The protesters demanded the U.S stop their support of Israel and called for solidarity among Muslim brothers within Indonesia.
Jeje Zainuddin, a Muslim youth group leader, said, "I think all the nations agree that what Israel has done is inhuman, but the problem is, will the international community dare to condemn Israel's actions?"
"We still hope that the United Nations and America will get involved in the process, because this is not just about Muslims, it's about universal human rights," Zainuddin said.
At a protest yesterday outside Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Calgary constituency office, demonstrators compared Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Adolph Hitler.
Muslim Council of Calgary chairman Nagah Hage denounced Olmert as a Nazi for what he called the "barbaric" bombing of Gaza, and said Harper's support for Israel makes him complicit in the Gaza bloodbath.
A lone counter-demonstrator defending Israel's right to stop Hamas rocket attacks was cursed by the crowd.
More Throwing Of Shoes
In London, several thousand people, many carrying Palestinian flags, marched past Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street residence to a rally in Trafalgar Square. Outside Downing Street, hundreds of protesters stopped and threw shoes at the tall iron gates blocking entry to the narrow road.
Shoe-throwing has become a popular gesture of protest and contempt since an Iraqi journalist pelted U.S. President George W. Bush with a pair of brogues in Baghdad last month.
Among the London marchers were activist Bianca Jagger, ex-Eurythmics singer Annie Lennox and comedian Alexei Sayle.
"As a Jew, it's very moving to see so many people who are so outraged at Israel's actions," Sayle said. "Israel is a democratic country that is behaving like a terrorist organization."
Rallies were being held in other British cities, including Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.
The clashes began after a small group of protesters stormed a barrier that had been penning them in. Riot police were brought in to control the crowds and demonstrators were seen being handcuffed and taken away by officers as they tried to clear the street.
Several protesters left the scene with bloodied faces, according to a reporter from the Press Association.
Brown's office said Saturday the British leader had phoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and called for an immediate ceasefire.
"Rocket attacks from Hamas must stop, and we have called for a halt to Israeli military action in Gaza," a spokesman said, on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. "Too many have died and we need space to get humanitarian supplies to those who need them."
President George W. Bush has declined to criticize Israel, branding Hamas rocket fire an "act of terror." But he has joined other world leaders in calling for an internationally monitored truce.
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon also has backed a cease-fire, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to visit the region next week as part of a diplomatic push to stop the violence.