October 7 anniversary marked worldwide with memorials, pro- and anti-Israel protests

PARIS, France — Crowds were participating in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across Europe, North Africa, and Asia on Sunday, on the eve of the first anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.

Sunday’s events followed massive rallies that took place Saturday in several European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris, and Rome. Other events were scheduled through the week, with an expected peak on Monday, the date of the anniversary.

At a march in Berlin, near the Brandenburg Gate, hundreds of pro-Israeli demonstrators set off up the famed Unter den Linden behind a banner that read “Against all antisemitism,” accompanied by a police escort.

With many Israeli flags waving overhead, some Jewish leaders led a song about “shalom” — peace — while marchers chanted “Free Gaza from Hamas!” and “Bring them home,” referring to the more than 100 hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands gathered in Paris for a Jewish memorial event featuring speakers and artists paying tribute to those killed in the October 7 attack and standing with those still in captivity.

Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Jonathan Samerano, who died after he was shot and kidnapped on October 7 at the Supernova festival, said “We are a united people. Together we are strong… no enemy will bring us down. With this unity and strength, we will bring our loved ones home.”

In London, thousands gathered in Hyde Park in a similar memorial event. The crowds chanted “Bring them home” and waved Israeli flags and placards with the faces of hostages still held by Hamas.

The event was organized by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, and other groups in collaboration with the Israeli embassy in London.

“Today’s event is for one purpose only: it is a memorial. We want to remember the people who have been brutally murdered and we want the world to remember,” Henry Grunwald, chair of the organizing committee told AFP.

Mandy Damari, whose daughter Emily was one of the 251 people taken hostage by Hamas, said her daughter was “full of life.”

Speaking at the memorial, Damari said “One year has passed and she is still in hell. How is it she is still in prison?”

British Jewish actress Tracy-Ann Oberman was among the attendees and spoke at the event, saying that “we must not forget our humanity” and remarking that it was “heartening” to see how many people had come out for the event.

One attendee, Mabel Russell, 53, said it was “important to be here, to remember those who are no longer here. We will remember always.”

Another attendee, Sharon, who did not want to give her last name, said she “pray(s) every day for the hostages,” but was opposed to a ceasefire in Gaza.

“We cannot bow down to tyranny. If there’s a ceasefire things are never going to change,” she added.

Two other rallies, one in Manchester and one in Leeds, were also set to take place on Sunday.

Massive protests

Meanwhile, people took to the streets from Pakistan to Morocco in massive pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel demonstrations.

In Morocco’s capital, Rabat, thousands marched by the parliament and called on the government to revoke its 2020 agreement normalizing the country’s ties with Israel.

Abdelilah Miftah, from Casablanca, said Palestinians and Lebanese were now facing “Israeli arrogance.”

“Israel is not respecting any laws and is waging an aggressive war against them,” Miftah said.

The protest in Rabat was among the largest in months. Morocco’s government has spoken out against the war in Gaza, but retained its ties with Israel.

In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a massive pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rally was organized by the country’s largest religious political party, Jamaat-e-Islami. Its chief, Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman, said the protest “is to wake up the world. … This protest is to tell the US that it is supporting terrorists.”

Earlier on Sunday in Australia, thousands of people rallied in support of Palestinians and Lebanon and against Israel. A pro-Israeli rally also took place in Melbourne.

Samantha Gazal said she came to the rally in Sydney “because I can’t believe our government is giving impunity to a violent extremist nation and has done nothing… We’re watching the violence play out on live stream, and they’re doing nothing.”

In Melbourne, supporters of Israel held up posters showing Israeli hostages who are still missing.

“We feel like we didn’t do anything to deserve this,” said Jeremy Wenstein, one of the participants. “We’re just supporting our brothers and sisters who are fighting a war that they didn’t invite.”

Heightened security alerts

Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, given concerns that the escalating conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks in Europe or that some of the protests could turn violent.

France’s interior minister was to hold a special security meeting on Sunday evening to assess the “terror threat,” his office said.

On Sunday, Italy’s Premier Giorgia Meloni expressed her “full solidarity” with police, the day after security forces used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators in Rome.

Meloni firmly condemned clashes between a few pro-Palestinian demonstrators and law enforcement officers, saying it was “intolerable that dozens of officers are injured during a demonstration.”

Thirty police officers and four protesters were hurt in clashes at the pro-Palestinian march in Rome on Saturday, local media said. In Rome’s central Piazzale Ostiense, hooded protesters threw stones, bottles and even a street sign at the police, who responded using water cannons and tear gas.

Pope Francis, celebrating his Sunday Angelus prayer from the Vatican, issued a new appeal for peace “on every front.” Francis also urged his audience not to forget the many hostages still held in Gaza, asking for “their immediate liberation.”

The pope called for a day of prayer and fasting on Monday, the first anniversary of the attack.

Risk of a regional escalation

On October 7 last year, Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, murdering some 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, taking 251 people hostage and setting off a war with Israel that has shattered much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 40,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 combatants in battle as of August and another 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

It is believed that 97 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.

Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.

Israel has also experienced attacks — missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, explosive drones from Yemen, fatal shootings and stabbings — as the region braces for further escalation.

In late September, Israel shifted some of its focus to Hezbollah, which holds much of the power in parts of southern Lebanon and some other areas of the country, attacking the terrorists with airstrikes and, eventually, a limited ground operation in Lebanon.

Israel has eliminated the vast majority of Hezbollah’s top leadership in the last few weeks, as it seeks to push the group away from the border and allow tens of thousands of evacuated residents to return to their homes.