Thousands of people flooded the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday in protest of the U.S.-Israel coordinated airstrikes against Iran.
Demonstrators carried banners, waved Iranian national flags, and chanted slogans criticizing U.S. policies, while calling attention to various international conflicts and perceived injustices.
Some protesters said that the U.S. intervention in the Middle East is motivated by self-interest in resources rather than a genuine concern for people's welfare.
"I think it's very important to be here today because there are misunderstandings, misconceptions. They think -- some Iranians think that we will be liberated from the dictatorship through the Americans and the Zionists. But if we see what they have done in Iraq, in Afghanistan, what they are doing right now in Gaza and Palestine, in Lebanon and Cuba, Venezuela -- you name it. How can people think that they are going to help us, that they care for Iran as human beings? They have to get out of Iran. All they want is the petrol, natural resources. And they have bombed hospitals, they have bombed children. And so we know already it's only the first day, but we know already that this is not for the benefit of Iranians," said one protester.
Others urged solidarity among Muslim countries against Western influence and oppression.
"The Western countries have been oppressing people in the Middle East since the end of the First World War. And unfortunately, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, all these problems started. And they managed to separate the Muslims in the Middle East. Hopefully, Muslim countries can make a fist and work together in order to defeat the Zionists and their puppets in the West," a demonstrator said.
The U.S. and Israel on Saturday launched "major combat operations" against Iran, killing hundreds, including the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran retaliated with a series of counterattacks against Israel and U.S. targets across the region, with explosions reported in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, among other countries.
Massive demonstration against U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran staged in Amsterdam
