In the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas’ massacre of over 1,400 people in Israel, and Israel’s military response targeting Hamas and other Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, anti-Israel protests erupted in several locations across the Arab world.
Many of these protests featured expressions of support for Hamas’ actions, harsh anti-Israel sentiment and overt antisemitic chants and slogans. The below list, which was culled from Arab media posts on X, is a sampling of what we have seen across the Arab world:
Egypt: Chants of “All of Palestine is ours/Arabic, despite the Zionists”.
Egypt: Calls to “open the border for us”, implying not only the desire to see aid flow into southern Gaza or for refugees to enter the Sinai, but to enter Gaza (and by extension, Israel) from Egypt. This chant was echoed in Italy, where crowds chanted “open the border for us and we will kill the Jews”.
Egypt: Crowds chanted “Khaybar, Khaybar, yaa Yahood” – a reference to the murder and expulsion of Jewish tribes from the Arabian Peninsula in early Islamic history.
Egypt: Crowds marched from the al-Azhar Mosque, and spilled into Tahrir Square chanting “the people demand the fall of Israel.”
Morocco: Demonstrators chanted “Zionists get out” and “Morocco and Palestine are one nation, not two.” The same rally saw chants of “A flood, a flood, to wash away the coward” (in another variation “the American soldier.)”
Oman: Protestors chanted “Jerusalem is ours, oh Muslims”.
Ramallah and Hebron: Demonstrators openly displayed Hamas flags, as did attendants at a rally in Jordan.
Tunisia: Soccer fans raised a giant image of a Palestinian militant, behind which the words “Allah’s victory is near”.
