Following the Israeli massacre of at least 17 Palestinians and wounding of over 1,400 Palestinian civilians on Friday, 30 March in the Gaza Strip, protests have taken place in cities and towns around the world. The protesters in Gaza were part of tens of thousands participating in the Great March of Return, a mass, popular demonstration upholding Palestinian refugees’ right to return home, demanding an end to the siege of Gaza and commemorating Land Day.

Many additional protests are scheduled in the coming days, including events and actions in Victoria, Cagliari, Bristol, Copenhagen, Boston, Brussels, Albertville, Albany, Vancouver, Melbourne, Manchester, London, Derry, Dublin, Jersey and Bordeaux among many others.

Dozens of cities have already held commemorations and actions, and photos and videos from several of these events are shared below:

In Athens, a spirited crowd of demonstrators marched to the Israeli embassy on Saturday, 31 March. There, they chanted and sang Palestinian songs, carrying Palestinian flags and banners and demanding the Israeli embassy leave Greece. In response, the protesters were attacked by police surrounding the embassy. Tear gas was fired on the demonstrators and several protesters were beaten by police after they fell to the ground.

The demonstration was organized by the Solidarity Initiative with the Palestinian people, and many organizations participated including the Ghassan Kanafani Solidarity and Resistance Front and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

In Berlin, demonstrators gathered at Hermannplatz in the Neukolln neighborhood on Sunday, 1 April to honor the martyrs and demand an end to the attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Organized by the Palestinian National Action Commission in Berlin, the protesters held candles and signs calling for freedom for Palestine. Participants carried banners and waved Palestinian flags on the cold, rainy evening.

In Amsterdam, the Palestinian House organized a commemoration of Land Day in Dam Square on Saturday, 31 March. After the massacre on Friday, a large crowd attended the event, which included demands for an end to the massacres and siege in Gaza as well as dabkeh and cultural performances.

In Milano, over 100 people joined the demonstration on 31 March to stand with the Palestinian people and demand an end to the attacks on Gaza. Despite pouring rains, crowds came out to carry the Palestinian flag and demand justice.

In Istanbul, BDS Turkey organized a demonstration on 30 March to commemorate Land Day and protest the move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Protesters gathered to support Palestine and denounce U.S. imperialism. They read a press statement in Arabic and Turkish in front of the Israeli consulate. The organizers also protested in solidarity with the Great Return March and to honor the Palestinians killed by occupation forces in Gaza.

Protests took place in a number of cities around Ireland, including Derry and Dublin. As part of Easter Rising commemorations throughout Ireland, participants carried Palestinian flags and honored the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle alongside the Irish one, while in Waterford, an action on 2 April organized by Anti-Internment Munster as well as local chapters of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign called for the expulsion of Israeli diplomats from Ireland.

In Copenhagen, dozens of demonstrators gathered in Gammeltorv on Monday, 2 April against the Israeli massacre and in solidarity with the Great Return March. Additional events are planned on 5 April and 7 April in solidarity with Palestine in the Danish city.

Protests were planned across France in multiple cities in response to the Israeli massacre. In Paris, demonstrations were organized on both 31 March and 1 April in solidarity with Palestine with the involvement of EuroPalestine and Palestinian associations.

In Lille, a large crowd came out on Sunday, 1 April for a morning protest to denounce the massacre and call for boycott of Israel. Participants included AFPS, EuroPalestine and many members of the Young Communists and France Insoumise, while in Lyon, another crowd gathered on 2 April, including Collectif 69 Palestine, EuroPalestine, AFPS and UJP. They saluted the Great Return March and highlighted the importance of Palestinian refugees’ right to return home.

Many more protests took place in cities around the world, with events in Helsinki, Belfast, Edinburgh, San Francisco, San Diego, Montreal, Zaragoza, Boston, Strasbourg, Saint-Etienne and a number of towns and cities.

Send your events and actions to us at samidoun@samidoun.net, on Facebook, or use the form to tell us about your actions in response to the Land Day Massacre and for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. We will be publishing an international list of events and actions that will be regularly updated. See the list of events.

Protesters gathered in London on Saturday, 31 March following the massacre of at least 17 Palestinians and the wounding of over 1,400 by Israeli occupation forces on 30 March, Land Day. The occupation forces brutally attacked a mass popular demonstration on the colonial “borders” of the Gaza Strip, the Great March of Return. The demonstration both commemorated Land Day and underlined Palestinian refugees’ commitment and determination to return to their land even after 70 years of forced exile.

In commemoration of Land Day and in protest of the massacre, several organizations, including Victory to the Intifada and the Revolutionary Communist Group, organized a march down Oxford Street in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanding that British imperialism end its support for Israel. The protest also highlighted corporations and banks that do business with and profit from Zionist violence, apartheid and colonialism, urging a boycott of these institutions.

“We are here to salute the 17 martyrs and thousands of wounded who rose up against occupation and came out to assert their legitimate rights, as we come out to demonstrate today to call on the British to boycott occupation,” said Toby Harberson of Victory to the Intifada. The protest marched by a number of corporations doing business with the occupation, including Marks & Spencer, Boots, Victoria’s Secret, Barclays and HSBC. Following the march, protesters joined in an action outside the Israeli embassy.

The protesters also highlighted their support for Irish political prisoners and the unity of the struggle of the Palestinian and Irish people confronting colonialism, Zionism and imperialism. Easter Sunday marks the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising against British colonialism, an occasion widely commemorated by Irish republicans and their supporters.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was one of the groups represented in the demonstration. Participants carried Palestinian flags, banners and signs with slogans including “Boycott the occupation,” “Zionism is racism” and “Victory for the Palestinian resistance.” Some carried signs featuring Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani as well as the red banners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Additional events are being organized in the coming days in London in support of Palestine, including a demonstration on Saturday, 7 April as well as several events commemorating Palestinian Prisoners Day. Samidoun is a co-sponsor of a protest on 14 April in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and a talk on 17 April featuring Palestinian leftist writer Khaled Barakat, the international coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat.

New Yorkers protested in an emergency demonstration on Friday, 30 March in response to the Israeli massacre against a mass Palestinian civilian demonstration in the Gaza Strip. Over 17 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,400 injured by live Israeli occupation fire directed at the mass demonstration, the Great March of Return. The demonstration was a commemoration of Land Day and emphasized the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their lands and homes in occupied Palestine ’48 which they have been denied for over 70 years as well as demanding an end to the 11-year siege of Gaza.

The massacre, coldly boasted of by Israeli occupation forces, including “Dahiyeh doctrine” architect Gabi Eizenkot who personally commanded the repression of the protest, against a popular civil demonstration evoked worldwide popular anger and protest. Dozens of demonstrations have been organized around the world to protest the massacre and demand immediate action, including the expulsion of Israeli diplomats, an immediate arms embargo and international sanctions against the Israeli occupation state.

At the same time, the U.S. and other imperialist and colonialist governments have done little even to condemn the massacre, while corporate and state media have done their best to obscure the massive state violence aimed at a civilian demonstration of oppressed people living under occupation and siege.

In New York, Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine joined with several Students for Justice in Palestine chapters as well as the members of the NY4Palestine Coalition, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, to call for an immediate emergency demonstration in Washington Square Park. Despite the rain, dozens of protesters came out to express their outrage at the Israeli massacre and their support for Palestinian rights, especially the right to return.

Joe Catron, the U.S. coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, spoke at the protest and read the Samidoun statement on the massacre and the need for international popular action. As he spoke, he wore a green scarf with the logo of the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas from the over three years he spent in Gaza, demonstrating the unity of all Palestinians and supporters of Palestine with the broad spectrum of Palestinian resistance.

Joe Catron later conducted a TV interview with Press TV on the massacre in Gaza. During his interview, he discussed his current participation as a speaker on the ISM Spring Tour. Four speakers are traveling across North America during March and April, speaking about the work of the International Solidarity Movement. He will be speaking alongside Islam Maraqa at events in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North and South Carolina, Massachusetts, New York and Missouri in the coming weeks; Rana Nazzal and Katie Miranda will be speaking this week throughout California and Canada. The ISM Tour speakers also issued a statement urging participation in the ISM and global solidarity organizing following the massacre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKjw1i_7SCA

New York organizing in response to the massacre and in support of the Great Return March is continuing, with plans already in place for rallies and marches to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nakba in May.