JAKARTA – Demonstrations supported the Gaza aid fleet, Global Sumud Flotilla, which led to clashes. Police sprayed tear gas at protesters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Thursday night as they lined up to support Gaza’s Flotilla.
“We were receding and suddenly hit a lot of tear gas,” a witness told Reuters, describing the burning in their eyes and difficulty breathing.
The arrest of the fleet of ships by Israel sparked protests in Geneva and Bern, as well as in Italy and Colombia on Thursday.
Israeli forces intercepted about 40 ships carrying aid and more than 400 foreign activists, including some Swiss nationals and Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, to Gaza.
Photos shared with Reuters by an eye witness in Geneva showed a large white puff of smoke coming out of the street filled with protesters, which they called tear gas.
A second witness told Reuters they saw a large white vehicle spray water on the front lines of protesters, which was also shown in a video shared by Swiss national broadcaster RTS.
Alexandre Brahmier, a spokesman for the Geneva police, said some 3,000 people, mostly adults and youth, joined the protests.
“We were forced to use control measures, including tear gas and water cannons,” he said.
According to him, protesters did not carry dangerous weapons, but “throw away items”, which caused property damage.
Such confrontations are rare in Switzerland, although pro-Gaza protests have escalated rapidly in recent weeks.
“Large protests are already expected to happen in big cities, but not every day we need to use control measures like this,” continued Brahmer.
Video footage from cell phones shared with Reuters showed flares thrown into the crowd, while hundreds of people were moving on crowded roads in downtown Geneva.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language.
(system supported by DigitalSiber.id)