Tens of thousands of Muslims in Sri Lanka launched a protest on Friday after Jumma prayers with hundreds of left party supporters also joining them.
The protesters called on Israel to halt its military operation in the Gaza Strip where more than 800 Palestinians, inlcuding some 200 children, have been killed in three weeks of Israeli military operation.
The protesters directed their anger not only at Israel, but also at the Arab world as the placard held by this young girl outside Colombo’s Devatagaha mosque shows. The poster asked, ‘Saudis, are you supporting the Jews?”
Israel claims the military operation was launched to stop Hamas militants firing rockets into Israeli territory. However, Hamas said it was Israel which violated a six-month old ceasefire, by carrying out missile attacks on Hamas targets in Gaza in November.
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