Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Iraq on Friday. Imams leading prayers in Lebanon condemned the state of Israel. In the island nation of Bahrain, videos shared by activists showed protesters walking on Israeli and American flags.
Israel’s siege and shelling of Gaza, carried out in retaliation for an operation by Palestinian raiders that killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, has sparked anger in the Middle East. Across the region, many people do not see Israel as a victim of unprovoked terrorist attacks, as many U.S. officials have said, but rather as a supporter of American support for Palestinian rights. viewed as colonial-style occupiers who continually violate the country. .
“They have been exposed to different kinds of injustice and now they are being exposed to starvation, siege and killing,” said Ali Hassan, 60, who took part in a demonstration in Bahrain on Friday. “Every free person, every Muslim and every honorable person stands with the Palestinians and Gaza.”
“As for the so-called Israel, they are usurping the occupiers,” he added.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced Friday that at least 1,799 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Saturday.
Friday, when Muslims gather for the week’s most important prayers, is a powerful moment of political activity across the Middle East, where levels of authoritarianism and freedom of expression are curtailed in many countries. There are many things.Support the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation Many Arabs and Muslims associate this issue with broader struggles against injustice and oppression.
With 2 million Palestinians crouching in fear in Gaza, with water and electricity cut off and nowhere to flee, Israeli forces on Friday moved more than 1 million of them south of the blockaded area. requested to evacuate.
Bahrain, an authoritarian monarchy based on the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, held a prominent Friday prayer rally for Shiite Muslims, with worshipers raising their fists and chanting “Death to Israel.”
“We salute the legitimate struggle and resistance,” said Mohammed Sangur, an imam leading prayers in the town of Diraz. Palestinians “are defending their religion, land and sanctity, striving to regain their rights and taking revenge for the blood of their children, women and leaders,” he said.
In Iraq, more than 500,000 people filled Baghdad’s Tahrir Square and the roads leading to it to peacefully show support for the Palestinian people.
Some, like Hammoudi Jabbar, a 24-year-old day laborer who came to pray with his 65-year-old mother, say they came to show support for the Palestinians. However, many others appeared to be looking forward to the deployment.
“We need something more powerful,” said taxi driver Abbas Majid, 32. “It may be peaceful today. But I’m going to ask you to go there for the next demonstration.”
Protests also occurred across Lebanon, with people traveling to Beirut from all over the country.
At the capital’s Mohammad al-Amin Mosque, an imam delivered a scathing attack on Israel and its Western supporters, saying Palestinian militants had “turned the tide” in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict with Saturday’s attack. he declared.
As the service ended, the somber atmosphere flared with anger as men and women emerged amidst a sea of Palestinian flags. In Beirut’s southern suburbs, home to the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah, thousands of people took to the streets after Friday prayers to heed Hamas’s call for a “day of anger.”
Some of the region’s authoritarian states appear to be trying to contain the outpouring of pro-Palestinian sentiment.
In Egypt, where the government controls Friday sermons, imams during televised prayers ended their speeches with short pleas for Palestinians, many of which were devoted to the importance of security. .
“We are at a very critical moment in our nation’s history,” said Imam Ayman Abu Omar. “The danger is great, the hardship is dire, and the enemy awaits.”
At the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Islam’s holiest site, worshipers packed shoulder-to-shoulder as Imam Osama bin Abdullah Khayyat delivered a largely apolitical sermon, ending with a plea. This continued until the document was submitted.
“God, be the supporter, helper and defender of Palestinian Muslims,” he said. “Have mercy on their dead and reward them for their martyrdom.”
In the neighboring United Arab Emirates, which led regional efforts to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020, there was no mention of Palestinians in Friday’s televised sermon.
Alyssa J. Rubin Contributed reporting from Baghdad. Ahmed Al Omran Originally from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. and Omnia Al Desouqi from Dubai.