Tunisians Protest Israel's War On Gaza

Thousands of Tunisians took to the streets in the capital Tunis late on Friday to protest Israel's ongoing war against the Gaza Strip, touring the streets and chanting slogans critical of the self-proclaimed Jewish state.



Having left their party and political affiliation flags at home, the demonstrators, who were responding to an earlier invitation by Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, carried the Palestinian and Tunisian flags.



Some of them also carried the flags of the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and its military arm, Qassam Brigades.



"We sacrifice our blood, our souls for you, Gaza," the demonstrators chanted.



"Resistance, resistance, no reconciliation or compromise," the demonstrators added.



"This is a nonpartisan movement on a day of anger in solidarity with the Palestinian people," Abdel Hamid al-Jalasi, the deputy head of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda movement, which co-organized the protests together with other Tunisian political forces. "The Palestinian cause has always united us," he told Anadolu Agency.



He said Tunisians would act in all of the country's provinces against the Israeli war on Gaza.



Chairman of the Tunisian Network for Transitional Justice, an independent coalition of rights groups, Kamal al-Gharbi, meanwhile, called on Arabs everywhere in the world to take to the streets to protest against Israel.



"These people must prove that they are still committed to the Arabs' no. 1 cause, namely the Palestinian cause," al-Gharbi told AA.



"The Palestinian cause is back to the right track: resistance," al-Gharbi added.



Since July 7, Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip with fierce aerial bombardments with the ostensible aim of halting rocket fire.



At least 884 Palestinians have been killed – mostly civilians – and more than 5840 others injured in Israel's ongoing offensive, now in its third week.



Gaza-based resistance factions, meanwhile, have continued to fire rocket at Israeli cities in response to relentless Israeli bombardments.



According to official Israeli figures, 35 Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed since the hostilities began.



Israel's military operation, dubbed operation "Protective Edge," is the self-proclaimed Jewish state's third major offensive against the densely-populate Gaza Strip – which is home to some 1.8 million Palestinians – within the last six years.



In 2008/9, over 1500 Palestinians were killed in Israel's three-week-long operation "Cast Lead."



By Adel al-Thabti



englishnews@aa.com.tr



www.aa.com.tr/en - Tunis