Thousands Rally in North America in Solidarity with Palestinians

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest against the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestinian territories during a rally at the Washington Monument in Washington, US, May 15, 2021. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest against the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestinian territories during a rally at the Washington Monument in Washington, US, May 15, 2021. (Reuters)
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Thousands Rally in North America in Solidarity with Palestinians

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest against the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestinian territories during a rally at the Washington Monument in Washington, US, May 15, 2021. (Reuters)
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest against the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestinian territories during a rally at the Washington Monument in Washington, US, May 15, 2021. (Reuters)

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied in cities across North America on Saturday, calling for an end to Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Gatherings to show solidarity with Palestinians took place in cities including New York, Boston, Washington, Montreal and Dearborn, Michigan.

About two thousand people turned out in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn, chanting "Free, free Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

They waved Palestinian flags and held placards that read "End Israeli Apartheid" and "Freedom for Gaza."

Many protesters wore black and white, and red and white, keffiyeh scarves, while drivers sounded car horns and motorcyclists revved their engines as the sun beat down.

Several Jewish people attended, carrying placards that said "Not in my name" and "Solidarity with Palestine" as the protesters took over a street in the area which has a large Arab population.

A few dozen police officers looked on at the peaceful protest, dubbed "Defend Palestine.

"I'm here because I want a Palestinian life to equal an Israeli life and today it doesn't," said 35-year-old Emraan Khan, a corporate strategist from Manhattan, as he waved a Palestinian flag.

"When you have a nuclear-armed state and another state of villagers with rocks it is clear who is to blame," he added.

Throngs of people gathered in Copley Square in Boston, while a few hundred rallied on the Washington Monument grounds in the US capital.

Several thousand demonstrated in Montreal, calling for "the liberation of Palestine."

Protesters also denounced "war crimes" committed by Israel in Gaza and carried placards accusing Israel of violating international law during the protest in the center of the Canadian city.

Earlier, a caravan of cars sounded their horns and drove with Palestinian flags blowing in the wind as they protested outside the Israeli consulate in the western part of Montreal.

A protester was arrested for breaking a window, a police spokesperson said, but otherwise the demonstration was peaceful.



At UN, Panama Reminds Trump He Should Not Be Threatening Force 

Liberian flagged Hallasan Explorer LPG tanker navigates at the Panama Canal, in Panama on January 20, 2025. (AFP)
Liberian flagged Hallasan Explorer LPG tanker navigates at the Panama Canal, in Panama on January 20, 2025. (AFP)
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At UN, Panama Reminds Trump He Should Not Be Threatening Force 

Liberian flagged Hallasan Explorer LPG tanker navigates at the Panama Canal, in Panama on January 20, 2025. (AFP)
Liberian flagged Hallasan Explorer LPG tanker navigates at the Panama Canal, in Panama on January 20, 2025. (AFP)

Panama has alerted the United Nations - in a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday - to US President Donald Trump's remarks during his inauguration speech, when he vowed that the United States would take back the Panama Canal.

Panama's UN Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba noted that under the founding UN Charter, countries "shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state".

The letter was addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and circulated to the 15-member Security Council. Panama is a member of the council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, for 2025-26.

Doubling down on his pre-inauguration threat to reimpose US control over the canal, Trump on Monday accused Panama of breaking the promises it made for the final transfer of the strategic waterway in 1999 and of ceding its operation to China - claims that the Panamanian government has strongly denied.

"We didn't give it to China. We gave it to Panama, and we're taking it back," Trump said just minutes after being sworn in for a second four-year term.

Alfaro de Alba shared Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino's rejection of Trump's remarks.

"Dialogue is always the way to clarify the points mentioned without undermining our right, total sovereignty and ownership of our Canal," Mulino said.

The United States largely built the canal and administered territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the United States and Panama signed a pair of accords in 1977 that paved the way for the canal's return to full Panamanian control. The United States handed it over in 1999 after a period of joint administration.