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AP; AFP; BBC. 6 April 2002. Thousands March in Paris, Rome to Support Palestinians Amid Offensive by Israel; Tens of thousands denounce Israeli offensive worldwide; Hundreds Rally Across [US] Nation to Protest Israeli Military Action; etc. PARIS and NEW YORK -- Tens of thousands of activists marched through Paris and Rome on Saturday in protests demanding Israel stop its offensive in the West Bank and expressing solidarity with the Palestinians. More than 20,000 people marched in the French capital to the Place de la Bastille, where hundreds of police stood by. Some protesters carried shredded American flags and shouted slogans against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "Sharon Assassin" and "Arabs, Jews together against Sharon," they chanted in the protest, organized by dozens of pro-Palestinian, anti-racist and Communist groups. Anna, a philosophy student in Paris, was worried that Israel would "take the same liberties with the Palestinians as the United States did in Afghanistan." One demonstrator, wrapped in a Palestinian flag, was carried on a stretcher through Parisian streets, similar to a ceremonial burial of Palestinians who have died as "martyrs" battling Israel. In Rome, about 20,000 protesters marched through downtown, ending up at a rally in Piazza del Popolo, where the crowd swelled to about 50,000 people. A few marchers at the front of Saturday's procession wore black face masks and bandanas like those worn by Palestinian militants. Others carried banners calling for "Intifada until victory," and chanted for a "Liberated Palestine." In Chile, 2,000 people gathered to demand Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories, as Latin American governments expressed concern over their citizens living in the Middle East. A protest in Bern, Switzerland, drew about 9,000 people. "We can't keep quiet much longer," a statement from organisers of a pro-Palestinian rally in the Swiss capital Bern said. Around 9,000 people were at the gathering, called by the Swiss Socialist and Green parties. 1,000 people have marched through the centre of Edinburgh to show solidarity with the Palestinians. Mick Napier, of the Palestine Solidarity campaign, said: "The Palestinians are the longest standing unresolved injustice of the century. They were ethnically cleansed , they are being slow motion ethnically cleansed by Ariel Sharon and Britain continues to send machine parts to keep the weapons of assassination and ethnic cleansing flying." Earlier, in Sydney, Australia, some 5,000 activists marched, shouting "Free Palestine" and waving flags and placards, to the Israeli and U.S. consulates. Calling Israel's offensive in the West Bank tantamount to the exploits of Nazi Germany, hundreds of people around the [US] nation marched in protest Saturday, demanding the United States intervene in the escalating crisis. In New York, hundreds of people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge toward City Hall carrying signs that read "Sharon Hitler." Police vans and hundreds of officers shadowed protesters, though no arrests were reported. Meanwhile, in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Miami Beach, Fla., about 250 protesters staged a rally at the city's Holocaust Memorial on Saturday, calling the Israeli treatment of Palestinians a present-day holocaust. Mahmoud Eltalla, 42, a gas station owner who was born in the Gaza Strip, held a sign replacing the first letter in Israel with a swastika. "They're killing children, women, they're killing everybody," he said. "What the Nazis did to them, they're doing to us right now." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews with photos from these demos --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
