(Brussels) Police used water cannons and tear gas on Wednesday to disperse a demonstration of some 300 people protesting against Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip, in front of the Israeli embassy in Brussels, a journalist noted of the AFP.
The day before, a gathering at the same location was dispersed in the same way, leading to condemnations from Amnesty International and the Human Rights League.
The demonstrators, wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, gathered late Wednesday afternoon in front of the embassy located in Uccle, a town in the south of the Brussels metropolitan area, chanting in particular “the occupation must end”.
Some of them threw trash cans and projectiles towards the police blocking access to the diplomatic building. The police dispersed the gathering using water cannons and tear gas.
“The new illegal demonstration was kept away from the Israeli embassy. Among the demonstrators, a group of ultra-violent individuals, black blocs, threw projectiles towards the police and tried to force the roadblocks,” denounced the mayor (mayor) of Uccle, Boris Dilliès, on the social network
The day before, the elected official had mentioned an “illegal demonstration” and “hateful remarks” to explain the police intervention.
Amnesty International on Wednesday called for an investigation into this dispersal, estimating that “the absence of authorization does not constitute a sufficient reason to end the demonstration, much less to use force”. The LDH also called on the authorities “to respect the right to peaceful demonstration and to guarantee citizens’ right to public expression”.