Hundreds protest Israeli attacks on Gaza in Stockholm

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN - OCT. 17, 2026: Hundreds of people took to the streets of Stockholm on Saturday, Oct. 17, to protest Israeli attacks and war crimes in Gaza.

The protesters, responding to calls by several civil society organizations, gathered in the Odengatan area before marching toward the Swedish Parliament.

They carried Palestinian flags and banners reading “Free Palestine, Free Gaza,” “Stop the Genocide” and “Boycott Israel,” while chanting slogans including “Children are being killed in Gaza” and “Freedom for Palestine.”

Demonstrators also accused the U.S. administration of complicity in Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Azerbaijani-born Swedish activist and theater director Aydin Amir Hashimi staged a reenactment protesting the killing of Palestinian doctors and children by Israel.

Speaking to Anadolu, Hashimi said the demonstration was organized to protest the genocide in Gaza.

“Since October 2023, Israel has done everything to demonize and dehumanize the Palestinian people. They spread lies about Israeli women being gang-raped on Oct. 7 in order to legitimize the genocide. However, the United Nations confirmed that there was no evidence that Israeli women had been gang-raped or that children had been beheaded,” Hashimi said.

Hashimi said this rhetoric had fostered insensitivity and ignorance in the Western world.

“The policy of demonization has had an impact in the Western world, and the West has chosen to distance itself from this human tragedy in Palestine. People do not dare to take sides. Through our demonstrations, we want to expose the ignorance and arrogance spread by Israel. We will not remain silent in the face of genocide, and we will keep fighting until we achieve victory,” he said.