Rome; venue of Pro-Palestine protest, calls for ending genocide
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Italy's streets are still witnessing huge pro-Palestine protests since October 7 as the people go against their government's stance on "Israel".
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Protesters gather during a rally in support of Palestinians in Rome, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. (AP)
Thousands of people staged a rally in Rome in support of Gaza and the Palestinians in an initiative titled "Stop the Genocide of Palestinians."
A group of organizations representing social partners, including unions and humanitarian associations, joined the protesters in support of Palestine.
One protester said, "It is appalling how the media ignore these initiatives, how the people's understanding of what's happening in Gaza is shaped by lies. Despite that many people are here today."
Federico Manetti of the Change Course Movement praised South Africa's submission of a case to the International Court of Justice against "Israel" for committing genocide in Gaza, stating, "Although the ICJ is notoriously biased, it is important that a country that has suffered apartheid for decades like South Africa has filed a genocide case against Israel." Many others also stressed the importance of this case.
Another protester labeled what is currently happening in Palestine as "a new Nakba," adding that the world had already seen tens of thousands of displaced Gazans. He emphasized with deep sorrow that "history repeats itself."
Despite hundreds of huge pro-Palestine demonstrations across Italy for the past months, the country's government still supports the occupation in its ongoing genocide.
Earlier this week, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, stated "that G7 members are working with the Israeli regime to secure a rapid end to Tel Aviv's onslaught in Gaza and reduce civilian casualties."
Marta Turilli, a pro-Palestine activist, has criticized the Italian government stressing, "My long militancy on the side of the Palestinians has taught me not to trust words, only actions matter," adding, "Let's wait and see. It could just be a mere propaganda strategy by the Italian government."
On Saturday, a dozen demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians were also held in several other Italian cities including Milan, Turin, Florence, Genoa, and Pisa.
'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,' says the world
The Israeli "National Security Institute" reported in November that there has been an escalation in anti-Israeli sentiment, with protests taking place nearly all over the world.
According to comprehensive data analysis back in December, a total of 3,891 demonstrations, expressing both support and opposition to the Israeli occupation, have taken place in 92 countries, underscoring the growing hatred for "Israel" in light of its aggression on Gaza.
The Israeli institute, however, noted that the sheer number of pro-Palestinian demonstrations greatly overshadowed that of pro-Zionist ones.
Analyzing data compiled from the first six days of the aggression on Gaza shows that "Israel's" unpopularity was skyrocketing, especially in comparison to the high rate of pro-Palestine protests. 69% of the protests during those six days were in support of Palestine while a mere 31% were in favor of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
A major shift, however, took place on October 13, when Hamas declared a "Day of Rage", which resulted in a surge of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that sought to condemn the Israeli occupation. The pro-Palestine protests accounted for 95% of all demonstrations while the Israeli occupation had a puny 5%.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are surging all over the globe, taking place in at least 88 countries. Aside from the rest of the Arab world where pro-Palestinian demonstrations are taking place regularly at dozens per day, and where Yemen is in the lead by a whopping 486 demonstrations thus far, the United States has taken the lion's share of demonstrations, with 402 demonstrations taking place there.
Moreover, Turkey had 355 protests while Iran had 275. Comparatively speaking, only 182 pro-Israeli demonstrations have taken place in the United States, one out of only 45 countries that saw such gatherings.
