Pro-Palestinian activists around the world reacted quickly to Israel’s ground invasion.
In Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, Israel’s “allies” in the region, security forces clashed with protesters hours after Israel announced the beginning of the ground invasion of Gaza. Israel Radio reported that dozens of protesters in Cairo burned Israeli flags and demanded Egypt expel Israeli Ambassador Chaim Cohen. The report also said protesters tried to march on the Israeli embassy, but were rebuffed by security forces.
Same for Turkey: Hundreds of protesters threw stones and waved Palestinian flags in front of the Israeli Embassy and the consulate in Istanbul. Local media said demonstraors in Ankara condemned Israel’s “massacre of civilians by air raids, and Reuters reported that riot police disbursed the riot in Istanbul with tear gas and water cannons. Reuters reported that demonstrators in Istanbul chanted “Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine,” and smashed consulate windows with sticks and rocks.
In addition, the online Algemeiner website quoted Bulent Yildirim, head of the IHH “humanitarian” group, who told a local television station that “Turkish Jews will pay dearly” for Israel’s actions and that Israel is “acting like a spoiled child” for responding to rocket fire at Israeli cities.
Yildirim added, “Jewish tourists, don’t dare come to Turkey. Tonight and tomorrow we are going to hold a different kind of protest, we do not have patience anymore…The Zionists are putting the future of the Jews in danger, we can not hold back our youngsters anymore,” he said.
Yildirim’s organization was the driving force behind the 2010 “humanitarian flotilla” to Gaza, attended by MK Hanin Zoabi, that ended with the deaths of 10 Turkish citizens who attacked IDF troops in international waters.
In order to underscore the common left-wing claim that “pro-Palestinian’ does not mean “anti-Semitic,” graffiti was scrawled on the Israeli consulate reading “Die out murderer Jew.”
In Great Britain, 5,000 protesters brought traffic in central London to a standstill on 15 July, charging the BBC with “one-sided coverage (of the conflict) in favor of Israel (Yes, really!). The protesters cited support from radical academics and journalists including Noam Chomsky and John Pilger.