Tens of thousands took to the streets of Brussels to express support for the Palestinian cause.
Police put turnout at the event yesterday at 70,000, while the organisers said 120,000 had marched through the capital.
The demonstration was backed by around 200 organisations, including NGOs 11.11.11 and CNCD-11.11.11, trade unions and community groups.
Participants dressed in red and carried red cards to signal disapproval of the Belgian Government and the European Union’s response to the conflict, according to belga news agency.
“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.
Speakers at the rally urged Belgium to move beyond symbolic steps and to press for European Union-wide sanctions. They argued that further measures were necessary if the country was to fulfil its international obligations, belga reported.
Gregory Mauze, spokesman for the Belgo-Palestinian association ABP, said: “In the face of the ongoing genocide, the measures taken are not yet adequate.”
A spokesperson for 11.11.11 said yesterday: “Thanks to all the pressure from countless citizens and civil society organisations, sanctions are being imposed on Israel,” the organisers of the demonstration said. “But these agreements are not the end. They are the minimum. The time for half measures is over,” The Brussels Times reported.
“As long as the genocide continues unabated, as long as bombings and blockades continue, as long as aid is blocked and families starve, as long as Palestinian homes are destroyed and illegal settlements are built … we will continue to apply pressure. Not only in parliament, but also on the streets.”
On September 5, Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prevot said the EU’s credibility on foreign policy was “collapsing” because of the bloc’s failure to act over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Belgian Government agreed late on September 1 on a national position regarding Gaza but organisers said the measures did not go far enough. They called for stronger action at both the national and European level, including trade restrictions on Israel.
Belgium has said it will recognise the State of Palestine at the UN General Assembly starting tomorrow, 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, according to AFP.
Israel began bombarding the Palestinian territory after Hamas’ 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 UN considers reliable.
