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Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian protests, blockades and strikes in Italy
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<span class="field field-title">Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian protests, blockades and strikes in Italy</span>
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<div class="field field-field-text"><p>Tens of thousands of people protested on Monday across Italy as part of a day of action to denounce Israeli genocide in Gaza, with blockades, strikes and marches.</p>
<p>The demonstrations came on the same day as France and other countries prepared to recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, following recognition by the UK, Australia and Canada on Sunday.</p>
<p>Italy's right-wing government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said it will not recognise a Palestinian state for now.</p>
<p>In Rome, around 20,000 people gathered in front of the main Termini train station, according to local police, many of them students, shouting "Free Palestine" and holding up Palestinian flags.</p>
<p>In the northern city of Milan, where organisers said 50,000 people turned out, protesters burned a US flag, an AFP reporter said.</p>
<p>Some demonstrators confronted anti-riot police at Milan's central train station, with police throwing teargas and protestors launching projectiles and smashing windows, an AFP photographer reported.</p>
<p>In Bologna, more than 10,000 took to the streets, according to local police, with a group of demonstrators blocking the motorway before being dispersed by water cannons.</p>
<p>Protests also took place in Turin, Florence, Naples and Sicily, while in Genoa and Livorno, dock workers blockaded port entrances, according to Italian media.</p>
<p>The USB union organised a 24-hour national strike to demand that the government break off relations with Israel in solidarity with Palestinians.</p>
<p>Local buses and the metro service were disrupted in Rome, while national train operators also warned of delays and cancellations.</p>
<p><em>Reporting by AFP</em></p>
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