Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against the demonstrators. They themselves were also attacked.
The Palestine Committee Zurich organised the protest on Instagram. A large police presence was deployed at Zurich main station in the late afternoon after pro-Palestinian demonstrators had already occupied railway tracks in Geneva and Lausanne on Monday evening.
At Zurich main station things remained calm for the time being. Shortly after 7.30pm, the organisers of the demonstration called on Instagram for people to gather in Stadtkreis 4. This was followed by calls to Lochergut and Helvetiaplatz – from there, the several hundred demonstrators continued through the city in the direction of Stauffacher.
Police and demonstrators clashed during the march. The police used water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas, while the demonstrators set fire to containers and firecrackers, as a photographer reported to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Police said they were pelted with fist-sized stones. The Zurich city police, who were supported by the cantonal police, took one person to the police station for further investigations, while another person was sent away. The demonstration broke up at around 9.30pm.
Police arrest 11
A total of 38 people were ordered to leave, 11 were arrested and various seizures were made, as reported by the Zurich cantonal police on Friday night. Among other things, several people had masking material, banners, tools and other dangerous objects confiscated.
The Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas, which holds power in the Gaza Strip, attacked Israeli border villages from the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, causing a massacre with around 1,200 fatalities and taking over 250 people hostage.
The Israeli army then began its attacks on the Gaza Strip, causing tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths to date. Internationally, accusations of war crimes were levelled against the Israeli government. Israel’s blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, which is inhabited by around two million Palestinians, was also repeatedly criticised.
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