On Saturday, thousands of people rallied and marched from downtown Detroit’s Hart Plaza to protest the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and demand an immediate ceasefire. The demonstrators joined hundreds of thousands of others in cities around the world, including London, Istanbul, Baghdad, Copenhagen, and even France, where such rallies are banned.
Israel ramped up its attacks in the Palestinian territories after Oct. 7, when Palestinian Hamas fighters escaped the occupied Gaza Strip and killed some 1,400 Israelis. In response, Israel has bombed and invaded the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 8,000 Palestinians, many of them children. In the U.S., a recent poll found that 66% of voters say the U.S. should call for a ceasefire and de-escalation of the violence, and an overwhelming number of U.N. nations — 120 countries — voted for a truce. The U.S. and Israel were among just 14 nations to vote against it.