Tear gas and 11 arrests as pro-Palestine Zurich rally turns violent
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening:
Tear gas and 11 arrests as pro-Palestine Zurich rally turns violent
Riots broke out at an unauthorised pro-Palestinian demonstration in Zurich on Thursday evening, leading to 11 arrests.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons against the demonstrators. They themselves were also attacked.
The Palestine Committee Zurich organised the protest on Instagram. A large police presence was deployed at Zurich main station in the late afternoon after pro-Palestinian demonstrators had already occupied railway tracks in Geneva and Lausanne on Monday evening.
+ Failure of Geneva Middle East conference reflects ‘divided society’
At Zurich main station things remained calm for the time being. Shortly after 7.30pm, the organisers of the demonstration called on Instagram for people to gather in Stadtkreis 4. This was followed by calls to Lochergut and Helvetiaplatz – from there, the several hundred demonstrators continued through the city in the direction of Stauffacher.
+ Swiss foreign ministry staff ‘shocked’ by Cassis Gaza stance
Police and demonstrators clashed during the march. The police used water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas, while the demonstrators set fire to containers and firecrackers, as a photographer reported to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Police said they were pelted with fist-sized stones. The Zurich city police, who were supported by the cantonal police, took one person to the police station for further investigations, while another person was sent away. The demonstration broke up at around 9.30pm.
Police arrest 11
A total of 38 people were ordered to leave, 11 were arrested and various seizures were made, as reported by the Zurich cantonal police on Friday night. Among other things, several people had masking material, banners, tools and other dangerous objects confiscated.
The Palestinian terrorist organisation Hamas, which holds power in the Gaza Strip, attacked Israeli border villages from the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023, causing a massacre with around 1,200 fatalities and taking over 250 people hostage.
The Israeli army then began its attacks on the Gaza Strip, causing tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths to date. Internationally, accusations of war crimes were levelled against the Israeli government. Israel’s blockade of aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, which is inhabited by around two million Palestinians, was also repeatedly criticised.
More
Pro-Palestine demo affects Swiss train services
Translated from German by DeepL/mga
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
More
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
More
In Switzerland four out of ten people have a migrant background – who are they?
More
Suicides in Switzerland quadruple among older people
More
French gangs target luxury cars in Switzerland
More
Renewed controversy in Switzerland over US fighter jets – explained
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.