Demonstrations in support of Palestinians created havoc in Switzerland this week. On Thursday evening in Zurich, protesters gathered near the Wiedikon train station in the Lochergut area. A rubbish bin was set alight and Zurich city police responded with a large force equipped with riot gear, according to SRF.
Officers deployed water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Eleven people were arrested and dozens more expelled. The protest ended around 9:30pm.
Earlier in the evening, police had partially cordoned off Zurich’s main railway station, blocking access to some tracks. Additional officers were stationed throughout the premises. Commuters were still able to use the station, and no major service interruptions were reported.
The protest had been preceded by calls on social media for a “shutdown for Palestine”. Authorities had expressed concern that activists might attempt to obstruct rail operations, as had occurred earlier in the week.
On Monday, pro-Palestinian demonstrators successfully shut down some rail services in Lausanne and Geneva by standing on train tracks at stations. In Geneva, nearly 1,000 people gathered at Cornavin station around 6:15pm, eventually occupying tracks 3 and 4. Train traffic on four lines was disrupted. One person was arrested for vandalism, police said. The demonstration ended by 7:30pm.
In Lausanne, around 2,000 protesters entered the station at 8pm, occupied railway tracks and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans. The protest caused widespread disruption to train services before the group moved on toward the city centre. Delays and cancellations continued into Tuesday morning as rail services gradually returned to normal.
More on this:
SRF article (in German)
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Leave a Reply