Tens of thousands took to the streets of Brussels on Sunday to express support for the Palestinian cause, days after Belgium’s foreign minister said the European Union’s credibility was “collapsing” because of its failure to act.
Police put the turnout at 70,000, while the organisers said 120,000 had marched through the capital.
Many of those who took part were dressed in red and carried red cards, symbolising calls for tougher measures against Israel to protect the civilians in Gaza.
“Some people dreamt of the fall of the Berlin Wall,” Ismet Gumusboga, a 60-year-old security worker, told AFP.
“Me, I dream of a Palestinian state for the Palestinians, where they can live like any other people.”
Samuele Toppi, a 27-year-old student, flagged the city’s role as a focal point for international politics.
“I think it’s really, really important that all students and people of any age should protest in this city,” he said.
Gregory Mauze, spokesman for the Belgo-Palestinian association ABP, said: “In the face of the ongoing genocide, the measures taken are not yet adequate.”
On Friday, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot told AFP that the EU’s credibility on foreign policy was “collapsing” because of the bloc’s failure to act over Israel’s war in Gaza.
Belgium has said it will recognise the State of Palestine at this month’s UN General Assembly, and has imposed new sanctions against Israel.
The EU has so far failed to take action against Israel because of deep divisions among its 27 members.
Israel began bombarding the Palestinian territory after Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,368 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.
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