From Egypt to Yemen and from Jordan to Iraq, thousands of people took to the streets this Friday or took to social media throughout the Middle East to show their commitment and solidarity with the Palestinian cause and denounce the total blockade. and the offensive launched by Israel in the Gaza Strip after the attack on Israeli territory by Hamas a week ago. The demonstration of brotherhood exhibited last week in the region, in contrast to the lukewarmness shown by the governments of the region and at times defying the ban on demonstrations, has once again reflected the broad and sustained social support for Palestine, despite the fact that In the last three years, the normalization of diplomatic and economic ties between Israel and several Arab countries has accelerated. The protests also responded in some cases to calls for Hamas leaders to mobilize after prayers held after noon on Friday.
In Egypt, despite the fact that demonstrations are practically prohibited, hundreds of people protested this Friday at the Al Azhar mosque in Cairo, the capital, one of the most respected institutions in the Sunni Islamic world. In the last week, Al Azhar, which has maintained a forceful attitude against the Israeli attacks on Gaza and has criticized the West, has called on Arab and Muslim governments to adopt a unified position of denunciation and send humanitarian aid to the Strip, distancing itself of the emptiest official discourse.
On Wednesday, 10 prestigious Egyptian human rights organizations signed a joint statement calling on the government and the international community to do everything possible to deliver urgent aid to Gaza, open humanitarian corridors, and force Israel as the occupying power to lift the siege. to the Strip, to establish safe zones for civilians inside, and to prepare for a truce. Throughout the week, small solidarity protests have also taken place in front of the journalists’ union in Cairo and on the campus of the elite American University in the Egyptian capital. According to a survey conducted by an Egyptian population center between Monday and Tuesday, 82% of respondents considered the Hamas attack justified. 88% did not believe that Israel has the right to respond.
In Jordan, where a large part of the population is of Palestinian origin, at least hundreds of people demonstrated on Friday near the Al Husseini Grand Mosque, in the center of the capital, Amman. There was also a march towards the border with the West Bank, which was received by the police with tear gas, according to images broadcast on social networks and local media. The Ministry of the Interior had reported on Thursday that congregations would not be allowed near the border. This Saturday, the day of the Hamas attack, and on Tuesday, other rallies took place in Amman in favor of Palestine.
Both Egypt and Jordan have tried throughout the week to stop the spiral of violence in Gaza through diplomatic channels and have reiterated that the only way to guarantee peace and stability in the area in the long term is through a solution based in the establishment of a Palestinian State and the end of Israeli unilateral acts. Both are forced to maintain a difficult balance between their good relations with Israel and the West, broad social support for the Palestinian cause and limited levels of popular approval, which is why in recent days they have expressed concern about a possible internal contagion of the conflict. .
Mobilizations over the escalation between Hamas and Israel and the siege and devastation of Gaza have also occurred in countries that have recently reestablished or normalized diplomatic relations with Israel, such as Turkey and Bahrain. Several Turkish cities have been the scene of protests in solidarity with Gaza and the Palestinian people in the last week, including on Friday in Istanbul. A group of protesters led a march in the west of the Bahraini capital, Manama, on Saturday, despite the ban on protests in the country.
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Iraq and Yemen have hosted two of the largest demonstrations in the region. In Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, thousands of people gathered this Friday in Tahrir Square to pray and participate in protests of solidarity with Palestine. The influential Iraqi cleric and political leader Muqtada al Sadr, who this Monday called for a large demonstration, thanked those who finally attended early on Friday afternoon. Thousands of Yemenis also marched through the emblematic Yemen Gate neighborhood, in the historic center of the country’s capital, Sanaa, controlled by the Huthi movement. Local media reported other protests and displays of solidarity in Syria, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iran during the day on Friday.
It has been precisely the leaders of the countries that do not maintain diplomatic relations with Israel who have also adopted a more clearly pro-Palestinian discourse and, in some cases, open support for Hamas. The spokesman for the Iraqi Government, Bassem Al-Awadi, declared last Saturday that the attack on Israel is the “natural result of the systematic oppression” to which the Palestinian people are subject, in line with what was expressed by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. . And Syria called the Hamas operation an “honorable achievement” and defended resistance to the occupation “in all its forms.”
Although there have been no notable protests, the deterioration of the situation in Gaza has also put the spotlight on the United Arab Emirates, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020 under the mediation of the United States, and Saudi Arabia, which is in the process of doing so. Both countries have called for an end to the violence, but Riyadh has been more forceful in pointing out the occupation, the violation of the rights of the Palestinian people and Israel’s “systematic provocations” as sources of instability, while Abu Dhabi has adopted a friendlier position towards Tel Aviv.
Social networks, sometimes in the absence of safe alternatives, have also been filled with messages written from the region to express solidarity with Palestine, denounce the devastation that Gaza is suffering, and criticize Western complicity, its double standards regarding other conflicts such as that of Ukraine and the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.
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