In view of the massive violence in the Middle East conflict, there were solidarity rallies for the Palestinians across Europe on Saturday, including in Paris and Berlin.
In London, Madrid and Athens people took to the streets calling for an end to the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
In Paris, the police used tear gas and water cannons to enforce a previously issued ban on demonstrations. In the French capital, pro-Palestinian activists took to the streets despite a ban on demonstrations. The police asked businessmen to close their shops in the afternoon along the planned route from the Barbès neighborhood to the Place de la Bastille.
4,200 police officers were on duty in the area, but young people gathered in several streets. As soon as groups formed, the police repeatedly used water cannons and tear gas to disperse people. In addition, she repeatedly called for the dissolution of meetings over loudspeakers. Some of the protesters threw stones at the officials and, according to the AFP correspondents' report, started a game of cat and mouse with the security forces across several streets. The demonstrators kept shouting “Liberate Palestine” and “Israel - Murderer”.
The President of the Palestinian Association for the Paris Region, Walid Atallah, accused the authorities of fueling tensions through the short-term ban on demonstrations.
The ban was issued because the security authorities feared serious riots like in 2014, when synagogues and other Jewish institutions were targeted.
In other French cities, however, pro-Palestinian demonstrations were allowed to take place.
According to information from the police and organizers, around 4,000 people took part in Strasbourg.
In Berlin, demonstrators beat police officers and threw stones and bottles at them.
Fireworks were also thrown.
The police used pepper spray.
According to her, there were injuries and arrests, concrete figures were initially not available.
The Berlin police had initially declared the protest to be dissolved because of violations of the Corona hygiene rules.
Since demonstrators did not adhere to the order, the officials in the Neukölln district took action against them.
From the crowd shouts like "child murderer Israel", "woman murderer Israel" and "free Palestine" were loud.
A total of three pro-Palestinian demonstrations were registered in Berlin on Saturday.
According to the police, around 2500 people moved from Oranienplatz to Hermannplatz in the afternoon.
A demonstration with around 120 participants at noon from Hermannplatz to Neukölln Town Hall had been peaceful.
In the course of the afternoon, the police increased their forces from 360 to 600 officers.
According to the police, around 2,500 people demonstrated in Frankfurt for a free Palestine. The administrative court had only recently lifted the city's ban on demonstrations, which was decided on Friday. Many participants came with Palestinian flags. There were no major incidents, according to a police spokesman. The police broke up the meeting at 6:00 p.m., as there were alleged violations of the conditions.
A demonstration was also broken up in Hamburg.
The mood among the 400 to 500 participants was highly emotional, said a police spokesman.
The situation got worse when some people with Israel flags appeared.
In Stuttgart, too, there were tumultuous scenes at a rally organized by the “Palestine Speaks” initiative, and in Freiburg the police spoke of a sometimes heated mood.
According to the police, around 800 people demonstrated against Israel and for Palestine in Cologne.
They waved Palestinian flags and signs with inscriptions such as “Freedom for Palestine” and “Stop the Genocide”, but also “Against Zionists - not against Jews”.
In most cities, the demonstrations were peaceful.
In London, thousands of demonstrators called on the British government to work to end the Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip. In front of the Israeli embassy, they waved Palestinian flags and held up signs demanding, among other things, the "liberation" of the Palestinian territories from the Israeli occupation. The organizers of the protests in London spoke of 150,000 participants, the police did not provide any information.
According to police, around 2,500 people took to the streets in Madrid in support of the Palestinians.
“Jerusalem, Eternal Capital of the Palestinians,” read banners.
“This is not a war, this is genocide!” Yelled protesters on the way from Atocha train station to the central square of Puerta del Sol.
Many young people were wrapped in Palestinian flags.
The demonstrators called on Europeans to stop cooperating with Israel.
Mediation attempts so far unsuccessful
Around 500 people are protesting against the Israeli attacks in the Greek capital Athens.
In front of the Israeli embassy there was a scuffle between the participants and the police, the officers used water cannons.
Despite attempts at international mediation, the worst escalation of violence in years between Israel and Palestinians in the Middle East has been going on for days. The Israeli army has attacked around 800 targets in the Gaza Strip since Monday. For their part, radical Palestinians fired more than 2,000 rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip. The background to the demonstrations on Saturday was also Nakba Day, on which the Palestinians commemorate the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people as a result of the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.