Thousands of marchers joined lawmakers in Paris on Sunday to condemn a surge in antisemitic acts in France during the conflict in the Gaza Strip, but arguments over political participation clouded an intended show of unity. The protest, called by the leaders of France's two houses of parliament, was prompted by a three-fold increase in the number of antisemitic incidents compared with the whole of 2022, according to French authorities, since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Political figures, including Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, headed the march, holding a banner with the slogan "For the Republic, against antisemitism".
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About 21,000 people took part in a pro-Palestinian rally in Brussels on Saturday, police said, many chanting slogans such as "Free Palestine" and demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as they marched peacefully through the city. "What is happening right now in Gaza is beyond devastating," one demonstrator said, carrying a poster that read "Ceasefire now!" in Dutch. Other protesters held up posters that read "Stop the Genocide", "Human Rights for Palestinians" or demanded the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over what they called war crimes.
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