Throughout the Arab world and the anti-Israel community in theWest, protestors burned the Israeli flag in recent weeks, following Israel’s fatal attack on the Gaza blockade-busting flotilla.
Last week, some supporters of Israel made their voices heard, too.
At rallies here, in Vienna, Brussels, Hamburg, London, Montreal, Los Angeles and Miami, Jews and non-Jews rallied side-by-side for the Jewish state.
In Helsinki, thousands marched for Israel, carried “We love Israel” signs, waved Israeli and Finnish flags, sang “Heveinu Shalom Aleichem” and criticized what they consider an anti-Israel bias in the Finnish press.
The participants “came here to say they believe in Israel and its right to exist and protect itself from its enemies,” said Ambassador Avi Granot, who took part in the rally. “To see all the Israeli flags being waved and the thousands of people marching was very heart-warming.”
Itzik Moyal, an Israeli who lives in Helsinki, told Ynet news service that most of the marchers “are not even Jewish — they came here following a call by a pro-Israeli Christian organization, which coordinated the event with the Jewish community.”
About 1,500 Jews live in Finland.
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