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Swiss Authorities Wrestle With Ban on Pro-Hamas Demonstrations
Pro-Hamas demonstrators in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo: Screenshot
The Swiss authorities are debating whether to ban pro-Hamas demonstrations after thousands of protesters took to the streets of Zurich and Geneva over the weekend to rally against Israel.
Around 2,000 people assembled in Geneva, brandishing Palestinian flags and calling for an end to the “genocide” which Israel is alleged to be carrying out in Gaza, while another 1,000 took to the streets of Zurich, chanting the slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free” — widely interpreted as a call for Israel’s destruction as a sovereign Jewish state.
The Zurich demonstration took place despite appeals from Mario Fehr — the director of security for the Zurich canton — for a ban. More than 50 antisemitic incidents have been reported in Switzerland — which has a Jewish community of 20,000 — since the atrocities carried out by Hamas terrorists in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
A statement from the Zurich city government ahead of the demonstration noted that bans are implemented not on the basis of the political content of a demonstration, but on whether public safety can be guaranteed.
In an interview last Friday with the NZZ news outlet, Fehr described the rise of antisemitism in Switzerland over the last five weeks as “rampant” and “unbearable.”
“Jewish friends tell me about abuse and hostility. On house walls I read slogans like ‘Death to the Jews.’ We cannot allow that in a tolerant, peaceful country,” Fehr said.
Pro-Hamas demonstrations across Europe had demonstrated “that antisemitism is more widespread in certain cultures,” Fehr said. “Especially in parts of the Arab world, children learn from an early age to hate Jews and Israel. We have to be careful that we do not give room to this hatred.”
Fehr emphasized that he wanted to avoid the present situation in Germany, where Islamist organizations have staged angry demonstrations in support of Hamas, to be repeated in Switzerland.
“We also have anti-Israel demonstrations, which are increasingly being hijacked by extremists. They aim to wipe out Israel and all Jews,” he argued. “The danger that Islamists from Germany or other countries will now move to Switzerland and spread their hatred is real.”
Fehr said that he had advised the Zurich city authorities to prevent any further pro-Hamas demonstrations. “Such demonstrations can degenerate quickly and are difficult to control,” he said. “The municipalities responsible for demonstration approvals in the canton of Zurich should be aware of their responsibility.”
While demonstrations are still permitted in Geneva and Zurich, the city of Berne has said that such gatherings will not be permitted between Nov. 17 and Dec. 24, the eve of the Christmas holiday.
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UN Security Council Meets on Iran as Russia, China Push for a Ceasefire
Members of the Security Council cast a vote during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at UN headquarters in New York, US, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/David Dee Delgado
The U.N. Security Council met on Sunday to discuss US strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites as Russia, China and Pakistan proposed the 15-member body adopt a resolution calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Middle East.
It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote. The three countries circulated the draft text, said diplomats, and asked members to share their comments by Monday evening. A resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China to pass.
The US is likely to oppose the draft resolution, seen by Reuters, which also condemns attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and facilities. The text does not name the United States or Israel.
“The bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities by the United States marks a perilous turn in a region that is already reeling,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Sunday. “We now risk descending into a rathole of retaliation after retaliation.”
“We must act – immediately and decisively – to halt the fighting and return to serious, sustained negotiations on the Iran nuclear program,” Guterres said.
The world awaited Iran’s response on Sunday after President Donald Trump said the US had “obliterated” Tehran’s key nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that while craters were visible at Iran’s enrichment site buried into a mountain at Fordow, “no one – including the IAEA – is in a position to assess the underground damage.”
Grossi said entrances to tunnels used for the storage of enriched material appear to have been hit at Iran’s sprawling Isfahan nuclear complex, while the fuel enrichment plant at Natanz has been struck again.
“Iran has informed the IAEA there has been no increase in off-site radiation levels at all three sites,” said Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran requested the U.N. Security Council meeting, calling on the 15-member body “to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Israel‘s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. and Israel “do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place.”
Danon told reporters before the council meeting that it was still early when it came to assessing the impact of the U.S. strikes. When asked if Israel was pursuing regime change in Iran, Danon said: “That’s for the Iranian people to decide, not for us.”
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Israel Rejects Critical EU Report Ahead of Ministers’ Meeting
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a “moral and methodological failure,” according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers’ meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc’s diplomatic service failed to consider Israel’s challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
“The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document … and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure,” the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
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Pope Leo Urges International Diplomacy to Prevent ‘Irreparable Abyss’
FILE PHOTO: Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo
Pope Leo on Sunday said the international community must strive to avoid war that risks opening an “irreparable abyss,” and that diplomacy should take the place of conflict.
US forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites overnight, joining an Israeli assault in a major new escalation of conflict in the Middle East as Tehran vowed to defend itself.
“Every member of the international community has a moral responsibility: to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” Pope Leo said during his weekly prayer with pilgrims.
“No armed victory can compensate for the pain of mothers, the fear of children, the stolen future. Let diplomacy silence the weapons, let nations chart their future with peace efforts, not with violence and bloody conflicts,” he added.
“In this dramatic scenario, which includes Israel and Palestine, the daily suffering of the population, especially in Gaza and other territories, risks being forgotten, where the need for adequate humanitarian support is becoming increasingly urgent,” Pope Leo said.
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