Demonstrations to call for end of Gaza siege

Protesters are to demand the end of the Israeli siege of Gaza and the opening of the Rafah crossing during a series of events coinciding with the UN-declared day of Palestinian solidarity.

Supporters of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign will hold protests in capitals around the world and at UN offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna on Saturday, the UN's International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The campaign said demonstrators would demand the end of Israel's blockade of Gaza and the acceleration of the rebuilding process after Israel's July war inside the strip.

They will call for the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to be opened, and for Gazans to be given the right to a secure waterway connecting Gaza to the rest of the world.

The day of solidarity is to show Palestinians they are not alone, that theirs is an issue that concerns anyone with a conscience.

Organisers said the marches would show Palestinians they were not alone in their struggle.

The campaign said that not speaking out against what is happening to the million-plus people living in Gaza amounted to complicity in Israeli crimes against Palestinians.

The campaign organised a day of protest in April resulting in 50 protests in various European cities against the eight-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The UN General Assembly in 1977 named 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People under resolution 32/30 B.

The UN General Assembly voted last November to proclaim 2014 an international year of solidarity.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.