Tourists visiting European capital cities these days may be greeted with tens of thousands of angry protesters. This is what was happening and is threatening the travel and tourism industry in London on Saturday.
This counts specifically for London, Paris, Dublin, and Tel Aviv.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have marched across London to protest Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, carrying signs reading โGaza: End the siege.โ Rallies also took place in France, Ireland and Israel as the Palestinian death toll surpassed 1,000.
Metropolitan Police placed the number of participants in London at around 45,000, The Independent reported. The demonstration, which began near High Street Kensington, passed the Israeli Embassy and eventually reached Parliament Square. Participants chanted, โLong live Gaza; long live Palestineโ as they marched.
Several high profile speakers addressed the crowd, including Labour MP Diane Abbot, who said the participants were there to show solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Saturdayโs march occurred in the context of a 12-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that began at 8 a.m. local time. Israel said that while it would adhere to the ceasefire, it would also continue to look for tunnels potentially used by Hamas militants.
Over 100 bodies were recovered from the rubble in Gaza on Saturday, many of which were partially decomposed, Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra said.