Pro-Palestine banners dominate Workers' Day rallies in Beirut, around the world
For one day, workers ruled the world’s biggest streets.
Workers and activists around the world marked May Day with largely peaceful protests over rising prices, low wages and calls for greater labor rights. Pro- Palestinian sentiments were also on display.
May Day, which falls on May 1, is observed to celebrate workers’ rights. It's also an opportunity to air economic grievances or political demands.
From Beirut to Paris, Istanbul to Berlin, they drew attention to stagnant wages and the high cost of living as they took aim at their governments. In some cases, their governments returned fire.
Despite the tense situation and ongoing clashes on Lebanon's border with Israel over the past seven months, hundreds of protesters marched through Beirut's streets to mark International Workers' Day.
Pro-Palestinian marchers mingled with workers demanding an end to economic misery. Young women supporters of the Lebanese Communist party posed for selfies and flashed victory signs.
“Politicians do not feel the pain of the worker or the economic conditions,” said one demonstrator, Abed Tabbaa.
Most will return to their jobs Thursday.
Police in Istanbul used tear gas and fired rubber bullets to disperse thousands of people who tried to break through a barricade and reach the main Taksim square in defiance of a ban.
In Paris, police fired tear gas as thousands of protesters marched through the French capital, seeking better pay and working conditions.
Pro-Palestinian groups joined the Paris rally, chanting slogans in support for people in Gaza. There were similar scenes in other parts of the world. In Greece, pro-Palestinian protesters joined May Day rallies, waving a giant Palestinian flag as they marched past the Greek parliament. Others displayed banners in support of pro-Palestinian protesting students in the United States.
In the German capital, around 11,600 people marched through the immigrant neighborhoods of Kreuzberg and Neukoelln, waving Palestinian flags and holding banners that read “No weapons for Israel” or “Free Palestine,” German news agency dpa reported.
Source: Associated Press, Naharnet
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