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Thousands join pro-Palestinian rally in Geneva

Several thousand people demonstrated in a pro-Palestinian rally in Geneva on Saturday as Israel readied troops for an expected invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Published: 15 October 2023 08:54 CEST
Thousands join pro-Palestinian rally in Geneva
A protester has a sticker reading "Free Palestine" on her forehead during a rally in support of Palestinians in Geneva, on October 14, 2023. Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP.

Police and organisers said around 6,000 people attended, national broadcaster RTS reported. The Tribune de Geneve newspaper gave the same figure.

Protesters marched behind a banner reading “Free Palestine” and chanted “Long live Palestine” and “Israel: assassins”, while dozens waved Palestinian flags. Demonstrators marched under heavy police escort.

Cardboard placards read: “What you’re calling ‘self defence’ is actually a genocide”, “End Israeli apartheid”, “Boycott Israel” and “We want peace in Palestine and not a Palestine in pieces”.

One boy held a placard reading: “Save the children of Gaza”.

Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday, one week on from the deadliest attack in its history, as it urged Palestinians to flee the area before an expected ground offensive against Hamas commanders.

There has been no let-up in Israel’s response to the Islamist fighters’ dawn raid, which saw them break through the heavily fortified border and gun down, stab and burn to death more than 1,300 people.

On the Gazan side, health officials said more than 2,200 people had been killed. As on the Israeli side, most were civilians.

Swiss dual-national killed

A Swiss-Israeli dual national was among the victims of the Hamas attacks, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on Friday. The victim has not been identified.

The foreign ministry “currently has no information regarding other victims or injured Swiss nationals in these terrorist attacks,” it said Saturday.

Between 10 and 20 specialists from Switzerland’s disaster victim identification team could be sent to Israel in the coming days to help identify victims of the Hamas attack, the foreign ministry said Friday, following a request from Israel.

Their main task will be to identify the deceased in accordance with international standards, using characteristics such as DNA and fingerprints.

Around 880 people have so far returned to Switzerland on four special repatriation flights from Tel Aviv to Zurich.

However, Swiss International Air Lines has now suspended the flights, citing the expected Israeli ground offensive, cancelling two flights scheduled for Saturday.

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POLITICS

What are Switzerland’s top priorities for the coming year?

The year 2024 is not finished yet, but the Swiss government has already set its “concrete and quantifiable objectives” for next year. What are they?

Published: 19 September 2024 13:55 CEST
What are Switzerland’s top priorities for the coming year?

On Wednesday September 18th, president Viola Amherd unveiled the Federal Council’s goals for 2025.

“In 2025, the focus will be on bilateral relations with the European Union, social policy, and continuing reforms in the healthcare sector,” the Federal Council announced in a press release.

All these issues are likely to have at least some impact on Switzerland’s population, including foreign residents.

Let’s have a closer look at these priorities.

EU-Swiss relations

After Bern walked out of its negotiations with Brussels in May 2021, and following a nearly three-year ‘cooling off’ period, the two parties resumed their talks in March of 2024.

The currently on-going negotiations aim, according to  the European Commission, “at ensuring a level playing field for competition between EU and Swiss companies operating within the EU internal market and guarantee the protection of the rights of EU citizens working in Switzerland, including non-discrimination between citizens of different Member States.” 

So if you are a citizen of any European Union state, the outcome of these talks will impact you — hopefully in a positive way.

Social policy

This will relate to the country’s state pension scheme /AHV / AVS), which includes the funding and implementation in 2026 of the 13th pension — a move that will affect both the retired and the still active workforce.

READ ALSO: How much will the 13th pension payment in Switzerland cost you? 

Healthcare reforms

This is not a new issue for Switzerland — on the contrary, the government has been trying cut the soaring costs of the health system for years.

The challenge it has is to curb the spending without cutting — or scraping altogether — various benefits currently covered by the obligatory health insurance scheme.

No concrete results that are acceptable to everyone have yet been found, so the Federal Council will continue this task in 2025.

These are the main challenges the government will tackle next year, but it has listed other ‘to-do’ tasks as well

They are:

  • To “sustainably secure its prosperity and seize the opportunities offered by digital technology”
  • To promote national and intergenerational cohesion
  • To ensure security, working towards peace and acting consistently and reliably internationally
  • To protect the climate and care for natural resources

Also on next year’s government agenda: to decide whether to further extend the special ‘S’ refugee status for people from Ukraine, which expires in March 2026. 

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