Geneva police use tear gas against pro-Palestinian protestors

Tear gas used to keep demonstrators away in Geneva Keystone-SDA

Geneva police used tear gas to remove pro-Palestinian demonstrators trying to enter the train station on Tuesday evening. The protesters were among hundreds of people who followed an authorised demonstration with an impromptu procession.

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By early evening, the demonstration had reached a peak of 800 people in the city centre, police spokeswoman Léna Keller told Keystone-ATS news agency, confirming a report in the newspaper Le Temps. “This demonstration was disbanded as planned by the organisers” after about an hour, she said.

But between 1,000 and 2,000 people then formed a new impromptu rally, this one unauthorised. Two sit-ins followed. Between 600 and 700 people then joined a procession converging on the Geneva Cornavin train station.

At 9:15pm, there were still around 400 demonstrators. A few dozen of them attempted to enter the station. When the police refused entry, they threw stones and fireworks at the police, the spokeswoman said.

The police then had to resort to using tear gas, she added. It was not immediately clear whether the clashes had resulted in any arrests or injuries.

Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the massacre perpetrated by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The last ten Swiss activists on the Gaza flotilla still being held by Israel are due to return on Wednesday.

This demonstration is not the first pro-Palestinian rally to get out of hand in Geneva in recent weeks. Similar clashes occurred last Thursday. One person was arrested and five police officers were injured.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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