Pro-Gaza protests in Baghdad, Anbar, Ninewa

BAGHDAD, ANBAR, NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: The provinces of Baghdad, Anbar and Ninewa witnessed protest marches in solidarity with the people of Gaza, who are coming under heavy Israeli attacks for two weeks now as demonstrators urged Arab countries to stop oil exports to the West. In Baghdad, the IraqiNews.com news agency correspondent said that a demonstration started from the Abi Hanifa al-No’man in the northern city of al-Adhamiya, where protesters chanted slogans demanding Arab countries to sever relations with Israel and support the Palestinian people. Dawoud al-Adhami, the chief of the al-Adhamiya municipal council, in a speech he delivered at a rally, called for “official moves” to extend foodstuffs and medicine to the people of Gaza. In the predominantly Sunni province of al-Anbar, namely the city of Falluja, (45 km) west of Baghdad, a demonstration began after the Friday prayers in which the mayor, clerics and local residents took part. According to IraqiNews.com news agency correspondent, the demonstration started from the Abu Obayda Mosque as protesters burned the Israeli flag and chanted slogans condemning the attacks on Gaza. The Israeli military has been waging an offensive on the Gaza Strip since late December, killing and wounding thousands of civilians. In Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, 405 km north of Baghdad, the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) organized a massive rally to express solidarity with the people of Gaza. “The objective behind the Israeli attack is to eliminate Islamist movements. It’s one and the same battle: here in Ninewa and Iraq and there in Gaza,” Mohammed Shakir al-Ghannam, the official in charge of the IIP office in Ninewa, said in speech addressing supporters of Gaza. AmR (S) 1