Demonstrations held in several countries against Israel's murderous military offensive

Hundreds of thousands of people have held demonstrations in several Muslim countries across the world in solidarity with Palestine and against Israel's murderous military offensive against the defenseless civilian population in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Thousands of protesters gathered in central Jakarta to condemn the Israeli regime’s atrocities against the people of Palestine as the Zionist regime is relentlessly bombing the Gaza Strip. 

Waving Palestinian flags, carrying posters and chanting slogans, Indonesians dressed in white and wore traditional Palestinian scarves crowded the National Monument square on Sunday morning,

The rally, the biggest pro-Palestine demonstration the country has seen so far, was organized by the Indonesian Ulema Council with the support of other main religious organizations.

It was attended by government officials and prominent public figures, including Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

“Every 10 minutes, a child is martyred in Gaza. Thousands of parents have lost their children, while thousands of children have lost their parents,” Marsudi said as she addressed the crowd. 

“My Indonesia and I will never back down from helping. My Indonesia and I will always be with you until the colonizers leave your home. Palestine, you are my brother. And I, and my Indonesia, will always be with you,” the top Indonesian diplomat said. 

The Southeast Asian nation has no diplomatic relations with Israel, and the Indonesian government has repeatedly called for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories. 

Indonesia has been a staunch supporter of Palestine for decades, with its people and authorities seeing Palestinian statehood as mandated by their own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism.

Some Indonesians who attended the rally said it was important for them to show up for Palestine.

In Turkey, a convoy of Palestine supporters headed to a US military base in the south of the country for a protest to coincide with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken‘s arrival to the country on Sunday.

Turkish police on Sunday fired tear gas to disperse a pro-Palestinian rally outside a military base housing US troops and weapons.

The protest outside the Incirlik Air Base in southeastern Turkey was organized by the IHH humanitarian relief fund, which in 2010 led a flotilla to Gaza that sparked Israeli raids in which 10 civilians died.

Meanwhile, thousands of people marched into Pakistan’s capital Islamabad in solidarity with the people of Palestine over the weekend.

The demonstrators demanded that leaders of the Islamic countries do more by action rather than just words to help Palestinians in Gaza.

Security forces were also out in large numbers. The Red Zone in Islamabad, which houses the parliament, the US embassy and other sensitive buildings, had been cordoned off.

Also, Malaysians have boycotted companies and goods with ties to the Israeli regime in a show of support for Palestinians.

Lists of firms with alleged ties to Tel Aviv are circulating on social media in Malaysia.

Among them are American food franchises, as Washington continues its unconditional support for Tel Aviv.

In the United States, too, businesses with alleged ties to Israel are being boycotted.

Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania is just one of the cities where dozens of businesses have been the target of pro-Palestinian boycotts.

ME