Thousands join pro-Palestinian protests in Swiss cities

Gaza: Support rally in Lausanne marred by a few acts of vandalism Keystone-SDA

Thousands of people took to the streets in some Swiss cities on Saturday to protest against the war in Gaza. Demonstrations in Zurich remained peaceful, but in Lausanne a UBS building was vandalised and police used tear gas against about 60 masked protesters.

Around 2,000 people gathered in Lausanne’s Place de la Riponne at 3pm on Saturday. The demonstration then proceeded via the railway station to the Montbenon Esplanade later in the afternoon.

According to Lausanne police, speaking to the Keystone-SDA news agency, in Place St-François, masked individuals smashed windows, threw red paint and spray-painted the UBS building.

They also threw firecrackers at police, according to a Keystone-SDA journalist at the scene. Officers responded by using tear gas. “We have the situation under control,” a police spokesperson said.

According to the organisers, including the Lausanne-Palestine collective and Association Palestine, the demonstration was aimed at bringing together supporters of the Palestinian cause from across French-speaking Switzerland. Protesters denounced Israel’s actions and criticised what they described as Switzerland’s “complicity in the genocide, famine and colonisation” of Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories. One banner read: “Neutrality stained with blood.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters criticise Switzerland

The pro-Palestinian groups said they wanted to “honour the resistance of a people facing genocide at the hands of Israel, salute their struggle for liberation and denounce the complicity of the Swiss authorities”.

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They also said that “through its failure to impose sanctions, its justification of crimes and even changes to the law aimed at facilitating the arms trade, the government bears responsibility for every killing and every act of torture carried out by Israel”.

“Beyond the banks and right-wing parties,” the organisers also urged “certain left-wing political leaders to move beyond moralising rhetoric and support active Palestinian resistance”. Among the groups backing the demonstration were the UNIL-EPFL Feminist Strike collective and Antifascist Action Lausanne.

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Similar demonstrations also took place elsewhere, notably in London.

Peaceful protest in Zurich

Around 1,000 people also took part in a demonstration in Zurich. On Bahnhofstrasse, protesters knelt down and observed a minute’s silence. The march was accompanied by a heavy police presence.

Afterwards, the march continued towards Langstrasse before returning to its starting point at Helvetiaplatz.

The demonstration remained peaceful, although police maintained a strong presence throughout. Many of the participants wore face coverings. Among those taking part was 76-year-old far-left activist Andrea Stauffacher, widely regarded as the unofficial leader of the so-called Black Bloc. The march also caused some disruption to traffic in the city centre.

In the densely populated Gaza Strip, on the Mediterranean coast and home to around two million Palestinians, war has been raging for three years between the Israeli military and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an attack on communities in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 others hostage.

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Translated from French and German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.