Activists have laid out 4,500 pairs of shoes in front of the Council of the European Union — one for every life lost in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict over the last decade
ADVERTISEMENTActivists Monday laid out 4,500 pairs of shoes in front of the Council of the European Union in Brussels to represent every person killed in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict over the last decade.
Members of the activist group Avaaz covered Jean Rey Square with shoes, donated by citizens across Europe over the last week.
It was part of what the group said was a "growing call for EU governments to protect Palestinian lives by reining in Israel’s government violence".
"Citizens across Europe have one clear message for our governments: Palestinian lives matter to us and they need to matter to you," said Avaaz Campaign Director Christoph Schott.
"As Israel’s largest trading partner and political ally, it is our moral responsibility to send a clear signal to Netanyahu’s government that the violence must stop," he added.
The memorial was designed to greet European foreign ministers as they entered a one-day meeting to discuss the ongoing Gaza crisis and other international topics.
Both the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B’Tselem) estimated over 4,500 people have died since the Gaza war in 2008 — a three-week armed conflict between Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and Israel.
However, Avaaz said "completely precise" statistics were not available since Israel and the US blocked the UN from conducting impartial investigations on the ground.
