Large demonstration in Stockholm: « Children should not be murdered »

People from all over Sweden have gone to Stockholm on Saturday to participate in what the organizers describe as the largest demonstration to date in Sweden for Gaza.

– Between 20,000 and 30,000 people. We did not even get a seat on Odenplan, says the promoter Nova Wegerifif after large parts of the crowd has been dispelled.

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Nova Wegerif is a member In the Palestinian group Karlstad. Just over a month ago, she wrote an email to all Palestinian groups in Sweden, she says.

– I wrote that out of pure despair: The situation is too terrible, it has been a blockade now for two months, people starve and bombed at the same time. Then I got response quite quickly from people around Sweden, she says.

A two -month total Israeli blockade against Gaza was canceled at the end of May and a small amount of food was then delivered to the area. Now the dividend is again closed until further notice.

The protesters’ message is that the Swedish government should act, including through boycotts and sanctions against Israel, according to Nova Wegerif.

– We want the government to condemn the genocide and call it what it is, she says.

The question of Israel commits genocide in Gaza to be decided in the International Court of Justice in The Hague. According to the UN, human rights organizations, several countries and International experts Israel has committed documents that can be equated in genocide.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has previously said that it is not up to the Swedish government to decide whether international law is underway in Gaza.

Neither the organizers Or the police have any official figure on how many people participated. But before the demonstration, the assessment was that around 2,000 people would participate, according to police spokesman Rebecca Landberg.

– We could very quickly see that in any case it was significantly more than double than that in place, says Rebecca Landberg.

Anna-Lena Roune is a physiotherapist and active in Heath Workers for Palestine, an international association of health care workers in countries all over the world.

– Now everyone thinks it has gone far too far, she says of Saturday’s turnout.

She demands a lot More of the Swedish government and by trade unions, also its own trade union Physiotherapists.

– It is our colleagues who are murdered and bombed. The hospitals are bombed, she says, continuing:

– It’s totally unlikely. It is not enough to think that this is a bit worrying.

One of the organizers Is Sami Suliman, Palestinians born in Haifa in Israel, who speaks both Hebrew and Arabic. Together with others, he has organized demonstrations in Stockholm every week for almost two years. Recently, there has been a shift in public opinion, he says.

– I know the Swedes have the heart in the right place. It’s just to embrace people and not questioning why they have not demonstrated before, says Sami Suliman.

Now he hopes that the Swedish government will also start doing more to stop the war.

– I usually do not have to be propalestinians to act. Then when do we accept in Sweden to watch when children are murdered? Children and women should not be murdered.

– We don’t hate anyone. We are here to put an end to the war and the end of the murder.

Read more here:

International experts: Israel commits genocide