Big crowds gather in Rome on fourth day of Italian pro-Palestinian protests

ROME: Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organisers hoped would attract at least 1 million people. “I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilise individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilise, then nothing will change”.

The protest, in bright sunshine, was peaceful, with students, children and the elderly attending. It also featured at least one banner hailing Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, and anti-Israeli chants.

As the protest was ending, a small group broke away and clashed with anti-riot police. Officers used tear gas and water cannon, and some of the protesters were immobilised and handcuffed and taken away, according to a Reuters witness.

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, and in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, organisers said. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000. Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have holding a protest picket.