Swedes voice support for Palestine in front of Israeli Embassy in Stockholm

By Melike Pala and Atila Altuntas

STOCKHOLM (AA) – Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm on Sunday to show their support for Palestinians who have been subjected to a massive Israeli military assault on Gaza, where the death toll has surpassed the grim figure of 40,400 since October of last year.

People gathered in Odenplan to protest Israel’s attacks on Gaza and marched to the Israeli Embassy.

The demonstrators, who demanded an immediate end to Israel's attacks on Gaza, carried banners reading "Free Palestine, Free Gaza," "Stop the genocide," and "Boycott Israel.”

Uno Horm, one of the activists who was at the protest, described the Swedish government's continued support for Israel as a "tragic."

"The genocide in Gaza is the worst thing that has happened since World War II and the Nazi genocide," Horm told Anadolu.

Criticizing the Swedish media for failing to report on what was going on in Gaza, he said the Swedish people support Palestine despite the media and government's indifference to the situation in the besieged enclave.

Another protester Maya Veliz Wastberg called what is going on in Gaza "genocide," saying she cannot understand why the world is silent on the Israeli war.

“(Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is making the same terrible decisions that Germany and (Adolf) Hitler made against their own people 70 years ago,” she added.

Titti Wastberg, who also participated in anti-Israel boycott protests in 1983, said, "At the time, I was accused of being antisemitic. I am deeply saddened because the situation has gotten worse over the past 40 years.

"I'm feeling sad and angry," she said.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in over 40,400 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and over 93,400 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar