Protests rock multiple cities in Italyu (X/@AlternateMediaX)
Tens of thousands of protesters and workers across Italy took to the streets on Monday in a nationwide mobilisation denouncing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with large-scale demonstrations, strikes, and blockades leading to transport disruptions and violent clashes in some cities.In Milan, the protests escalated when a group of demonstrators stormed the central train station, clashing with riot police. Officers responded with teargas and pepper spray after protesters smashed windows, hurled smoke bombs, and threw projectiles. A US flag was also set on fire, AFP reported.The day of action was called by Italy’s grassroots unions, including the USB and CUB, with a 24-hour strike across public and private sectors – affecting schools, trains, metro services, and ports. The USB union demanded the Italian government cut ties with Israel over its military operations in Gaza.In Rome, around 20,000 people gathered at Termini station after marching past the Colosseum with banners reading “Against Genocide. Let’s block everything.” Students and workers raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans like “free Palestine!”“Italy must come to a standstill today,” said Federica Casino, a 52-year-old protester. “Italy talks but does nothing,” she added.Seventeen-year-old Michelangelo told AFP he was protesting to support “a population that is being exterminated.”In Bologna, over 10,000 marched, while police used water cannons to disperse highway blockades. Demonstrations also spread to Turin, Florence, Naples and Sicily. In the ports of Genoa and Livorno, dock workers staged sit-ins, slowing the movement of goods, according to Italian media.The protests coincided with discussions at the United Nations general assembly in New York, where countries including France were expected to recognise a Palestinian state. Italy’s government, led by conservative Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has said it will not do so at this stage.Meloni condemned the violence that broke out during the protests. “Violence and destruction have nothing to do with solidarity and won’t change a thing in the lives of people in Gaza,” she wrote on X.Italy, a close ally of Israel within the EU, has recently moderated its tone amid rising domestic concern over the war. A La Stampa poll cited by AFP showed that nearly 64 per cent of Italians consider the Gaza situation “very serious”, with 41 per cent in favour of recognising a Palestinian state.The Gaza war began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 hostages taken. In response, Israel’s ongoing offensive has killed more than 65,100 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, with vast displacement and infrastructure collapse reported by UN agencies.(With inputs from agencies)
