The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Palestinian solidarity demonstration draws 2,000 people in Geneva

GE: over 2000 people at pro-Palestine march
GE: over 2000 people at pro-Palestine march Keystone-SDA

Some 2,200 people took to the streets in Geneva Saturday to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to denounce Swiss policy in the Middle East. The demonstration had been called by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement.

+ Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

“The demonstration was held peacefully and there were no particular problems,” a Geneva cantonal police spokeswoman told Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA.

The demonstrators accused the federal government of “shameful complicity” with Israel and called for “immediate and severe sanctions” against Israel, deploring the suspension of Bern’s financial support to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

+ Read more about the allegations against UNRWA in Gaza

Organisers of the event recalled that almost a year ago the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recognised the plausibility of the crime of genocide committed by the Israeli state against the people of the Gaza Strip.

Recognition required

Last November, they added, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.

The protesters deplored the fact that, despite these pressures, Israel continues its “genocidal war” against the Palestinians and continues its attacks against neighboring countries, a policy they said Israel could not pursue “without the complicity of its allies,” namely the United States, Britain, France, Germany “and Switzerland.”

+Switzerland plans to hold in March a Middle East conference on international humanitarian lawExternal link

The pro-Palestinian activists called on Bern to change its approach to the Middle East by ceasing its support for the Israeli state. According to them, the government should also resume and increase funding to UNRWA and immediately recognize the state of Palestine, following the example of Spain, Ireland and Norway.

Translated from Italian by DeepL/ds

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

Popular Stories

News

Safra Sarasin and a former asset manager sentenced

More

Swiss Politics

Safra Sarasin private bank and former asset manager sentenced

This content was published on The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has fined private bank J. Safra Sarasin CHF3.5 million for aggravated money laundering. A former bank employee received a six-month suspended prison sentence.

Read more: Safra Sarasin private bank and former asset manager sentenced
1MDB affair: JPMorgan to pay CHF 270 million

More

Swiss Politics

JPMorgan to pay CHF270 million to settle 1MDB claims

This content was published on JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay CHF270 million to the Malaysian government to settle all issues related to its role in the 1MDB financial scandal.

Read more: JPMorgan to pay CHF270 million to settle 1MDB claims
Philippe Lazzarini has overseen UNRWA since 2020.

More

Foreign Affairs

UNRWA boss Lazzarini to step down in March 2026

This content was published on Philippe Lazzarini will step down as head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at the end of his term in March, he announced on Thursday.

Read more: UNRWA boss Lazzarini to step down in March 2026
Gösgen NPP outage darkens profit prospects for Axpo and Alpiq

More

Swiss Politics

Outage extended at Swiss nuclear plant

This content was published on The Gösgen nuclear power plant in northwestern Switzerland will be out of service for six months. It has not been connected to the grid since late May.

Read more: Outage extended at Swiss nuclear plant

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.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR