Manifestation

Pro-Palestine procession in Rome: clashes and 34 officers injured. From Mattarella solidarity with the forces of order

The balance of the day. Four first apprehended. One thousand officers deployed in the security plan. Piantedosi: the police showed great responsibility

by Redaction Rome

5 October 2024

7 Ottobre: scontri tra attivisti pro Palestina e forze dell'ordine

5' min read

5' min read

An urban guerrilla warfare unleashed with paper bombs, broken signposts in the street used to break through the police cordon, stones and bottles at the officers who responded with tear gas and charges. The pro-Palestine demonstrators' attempt to march in a procession ended amidst disturbances set off by violent infiltrators and police water cannon jets used to disperse them: seven thousand of them had defied the police prohibition by taking part in the unauthorised demonstration, joining the same mobilisation launched in other European cities for the entire weekend in view of 7 October, the anniversary of the Hamas attacks that last year were followed by the Israeli army's invasion of Gaza.

During the clashes at least 34 law enforcement officers were injured (including a state police officer who suffered a fractured pelvis), while a girl was shot in the head and rescued at the scene. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella called the Chief of Police to express solidarity with the injured officers and appreciation for the police force.

'The balance of yesterday's demonstration in Rome,' wrote the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi on X, 'was 4 people arrested, one of whom was arrested, and more than 200 removed before it began. Of these, 51 were issued with a travel warrant because they had previous convictions for offences against public order. All my sympathy and gratitude to the 34 Police Force personnel attacked and injured on the occasion. I would like to thank the Police Forces and the Rome Police Headquarters for their effective and balanced management of a difficult situation, in defence of citizens' safety'.

The Day

Authors of the throwing of paper bombs, tear gas and the pole a group of hooded men. The police respond with tear gas and use water cannons to disperse the violent protesters, while the officers are pelted with paper bombs, stones, clubs, and road sign posts. There is a stampede in the square after a full-scale guerrilla warfare broke out. Police officers set off charges to disperse the violent protesters, while the throwing of paper bombs and objects at the officers continued. Water cannons are also in action. Armoured vehicles advance into the square to drive back the violent protesters, many hooded.

30 officers injured in clashes at pro-Pal rally

30 law enforcement officers were injured during the clashes at the pro-PAL demonstration in Rome. Of these 20 are from the State Police and 4 from the Guardia di Finanza. After the control of more than 1,600 people, with garrisons and checkpoints at motorway toll booths and stations, 40 of them - coming from different cities from the North to the South of the country - ended up at the police station, receiving a travel warrant.

La manifestazione (non autorizzata) pro Palestina a Roma
Photogallery36 foto

At least 4 first apprehended

At least four people have been arrested in connection with the clashes that took place in Piazzale Ostiense, where about a hundred pro-Palestine demonstrators attempted to force the police cordon that was blocking the access road to Via Ostiense. Their position, LaPresse learns, is now under investigation.

Unauthorised pro-Pal procession in Rome, 1,600 checked and 19 in police headquarters. In the square in 5 thousand

There are about 5,000 demonstrators at the pro-Palestine demonstration being held on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, which has been banned by the Police Headquarters. The influx in the square is manned by the police. The controls had begun hours earlier with the aim of intercepting any violent infiltrators among the groups who, defying the ban, would still try to reach Piazzale Ostiense. A total of 1,600 people were checked and 19 were taken to the police station to assess their position with a view to a possible travel warrant.

Controls

In the security plan fine-tuned at a technical round table in the Questura (the first chaired by the newly appointed Quaestor Roberto Massucci) controls at stations and motorway toll booths to intercept buses of demonstrators arriving from other cities and an increasingly tight concentric circle device around the area. More than a thousand law enforcement personnel are expected.

Piantedosi: police showed great responsibility

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, stressing that the demonstration was 'illegal', assured that it would be 'handled with balance by our police force, which I trust completely'. In the meantime, the halt to the procession has divided the Palestinian 'world' and united the extreme left and extreme right, who have sided with the mobilisation. At the end of the day, the minister telephoned the Chief of Police, Vittorio Pisani, asking about the health conditions of the representatives of the police force who had been injured in the attacks in Piazzale Ostiense.

On the occasion, the Minister of the Interior expressed his appreciation to Pisani for 'the work of the police forces who, as always, have shown great professionalism and balance, guaranteeing public order on a complex day, in which there was no lack of serious intemperance on the part of those who took to the streets, even using improper weapons and paper bombs to attack the officers and cause damage'.

Who took to the streets

The Palestinian Arab Democratic Union and the Young Palestinians have announced that they will be in the square anyway, while the Palestinian Community has agreed on a new date for Saturday 12 October. In the last few hours, adhesions to the demonstration from various realities, including student collectives, have continued. On the profile of the collective of the historic Virgilio high school in Rome, a video was published showing a banner with the words "Israel a terrorist state" and an image of Netanyahu with the Star of David set on fire. All in the courtyard of the institute. Even Potere al Popolo will be in the square and assures a 'big procession' in response to a 'dangerous repressive mechanism'. Support also comes from the extreme right with Forza Nuova that speaks of a 'doubly legitimate demonstration' and a 'campaign of criminalisation and censorship against the anti-Zionist world'.

Criticism of the ban

Criticism of the ban came from the 5 Star Movement. For the group leader at the Chamber of Deputies, Francesco Silvestri, the government 'is creating all the premises to facilitate confrontation rather than to prevent it'. While for the Pentastellata MP Stefania Ascari 'banning demonstrations is always, in any case, a mistake and a bad signal. And tomorrow the mobilisation will go beyond the borders of the capital. In Cagliari people will march to say no to the Security bill and to claim the possibility 'to demonstrate freely in favour of the Palestinian people'.

The other events

After the tensions in Rome, in the country the demonstrations in view of 7 October are not over: in Turin the police commissioner ordered the organising committees to hold them on another date and exclusively in static form. The objective - also in view of the mobilisation called to commemorate the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel - is to avert the risk that opposing groups may come into contact on that day. And from 8 October, a new hot season will open in the universities with the Intifada of the collectives that will probably be followed by agitations also in the high schools that already yesterday had actions in Rome, complete with photos of Netanyahu set on fire. Also on the 8th in Rome another demonstration risking clashes: movements and collectives will demonstrate at Cybertech Europe where cybersecurity will be discussed.