Pro-Palestine demonstrations draw crowds across Europe

Several pro-Palestine rallies were held across Europe on Saturday, drawing large crowds.

"Over half a million people" marched together for Palestine and against the far right in London, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said on the US social media platform X.

Joined by groups including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Stop the War Coalition, protesters also condemned Israeli strikes on Lebanon and the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Demonstrators carried banners reading “Freedom for Palestine,” “Stop Bombing Iran,” and “Stop Arming Israel,” while also speaking out against Islamophobia.

Meanwhile, rallies were held across multiple regions in France following a call by around 90 organizations.

“In every region of France we are demonstrating for: self-determination of the Palestinian people and the right of return for Palestinian refugees; an end to occupation, colonization and apartheid; sanctions against Israel; a permanent ceasefire; and an end to the genocide,” Association France Palestine Solidarite wrote on X.

The group said thousands of activists gathered in Paris, while nearly 1,000 people also demonstrated in Angers, in western France, according to Ouest-France daily.

In Sweden’s capital Stockholm, a group of protesters also gathered, calling for a free Palestine and urging an end to the Israeli genocide.

In Vienna, the Platform Palestine Solidarity Austria called for a demonstration “to stop Zionist and US aggression" amid US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

A few hundred people also gathered in The Hague, Netherlands, to protest the war in Iran.

Organized by the New Peace Movement, the demonstration called on the Dutch government to contribute to de-escalation and press Israel and the US to immediately halt their attacks, according to NL Times.