PARIS, March 30: Thousands of people marched in support of the Palestinian people and their besieged leader Yasser Arafat in France, Germany and other European countries on Saturday, as Israel continued its operations against the Palestinian Authority.

In central Paris around 1,000 people demonstrated in a protest against the “logic of war” of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon. In Lyon, France’s second city, police said around 5,500 people took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration.

In the German capital Berlin around 800 people took part in a pro-Palestinian rally.

Security around Jewish establishments was increased in the city amid fears that there might be an anti-Jewish backlash related to events in the Middle East.

In Strasbourg in eastern France, between 2,000 and 3,000 people from France as well as from nearby Germany and Belgium took part in a protest called by the Party of French Muslims (PMF).

Easter peace marches in Hanover, Munich, Duesseldorf and Stuttgart, with between 250 and 1,000 protestors in each, also had a strong pro-Palestinian element.

In Bordeaux in southwestern France a pro-Palestinian demonstration of around 300 people took place in the city centre.

In Athens, Greece, around a dozen members of parliament demonstrated in front of the Israeli Embassy and called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Ramallah.

The Israeli ambassador to Greece, David Shasson, refused to meet them.—AFP