Gaza attacks spark uproar in Arab countries

Thousands of angry protesters across the Arab world railed against Israel's deadly attacks on Gaza on Dec. 28, as the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, backed the UN Security Council's calls for an immediate end to the violence. Demonstrations erupted in countries including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Iraq and Turkey, with many protesters waving banners demanding a stronger response from Arab nations to the air strikes, which have left at least 280 people dead. Stone-throwing protesters in Hebron, Ramallah and other West Bank towns confronted Israeli troops firing rubber bullets and teargas. A Palestinian medic said a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire during an angry demonstration in the West Bank village of Naalin. In Beirut, a Hamas official spoke to a crowd of about 1,000 people who gathered with Lebanese and Palestinian flags. His speech was met with cries of "death to Israel" from some in the crowd. In the capital of Syria, more than 5,000 people marched towards the central Youssef al-Azmeh square. In Amman, Jordan, around 5,000 lawyers marched to demand the Israeli ambassador's expulsion and the closure of the embassy, and there were also protests outside the Israeli embassy in Turkey. Protesters burned Israeli flags and fired AK-47s in the air at demonstrations across Iraq. "We have been waiting for an action from Arab leaders for almost 60 years," said Jaleel al-Qasus, the Palestinian envoy to Iraq, at a protest in the Baladiyat district of Baghdad. "Our efforts have been in vain." There were also demonstrations in the Iraqi cities of Samarra, Falluja and Mosul, where a suicide bomber killed a teenage boy. The Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a leading opponent of the US in Iraq, backed the demonstrations. "The massacre of innocents in Gaza is proof of what we are saying. All this is happening with backing of the American government and colonial states," he said in a statement. There were also protests in the typically quiet streets of Dubai, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the Palestinian consulate. In New York, the UN Security Council avoided apportioning blame in a cautiously worded statement that called for "an immediate halt to all violence". "The members called on the parties to stop immediately all military activities," said the council's current president, Croatia's ambassador, Neven Jurica. He said both sides should address "the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza", stressing "the need for the restoration of calm in full". The call for an end to violence was repeated by leaders across the world. Pope Benedict warned that "the native land of Jesus cannot continue to be witness to so much bloodshed, repeating itself without end," while Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, said through its foreign ministry that Israel's attacks "will prompt new tensions". The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, said his organization was shocked by the "unimaginable and unacceptable" air strikes. Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, described Israel's assault as a "crime against humanity".