Headline Roundup • September 24th, 2025
Protests, Riots Across Italy as Nation Does Not Recognize Palestinian State
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Protests and riots disrupted several cities in Italy on Monday, as some of its Western allies in Portugal, Canada, Australia, and France moved to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state.
The Details: Protestors took to the streets in over 75 municipalities, including major cities such as Rome, Milan, Bologna, Palermo, and Genoa. Demonstrators blocked roads, schools, train stations, and seaports in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Protests turned violent in some cases, with videos of vandalism and clashes with police in Milan circulating widely on social media. Italian news agency ANSA reported that in Milan, where reportedly over 50,000 people protested, more than 10 people were arrested and about 60 police officers suffered injuries.
Key Quotes: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X (translated), “Violence and destruction that have nothing to do with solidarity and will not change the lives of people in Gaza by a fraction, but will have concrete consequences for Italian citizens who will end up suffering and paying for the damage caused by these hooligans.” A political science student protesting in Rome told La Repubblica, “This doesn’t mean we’re anti-Jews or antisemitic, and we’re tired of the media and politicians playing on this misunderstanding. It just means we’re against a government that’s committing genocide while the international community looks the other way.”
How The Media Covered It: The story was covered by several mainstream American outlets from the left and less so by the right. From the right, AllSides only found coverage from the Russian state-funded outlet RT (Lean Right).
Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Demonstrations and violent riots have erupted across Italy in support of Palestine and against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, which has so far rejected calls to recognize Palestinian statehood.
The unrest comes as a number of countries, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, and Portugal, formally recognized Palestine in recent days, with France expected to follow suit at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
Protesters against Israel's Gaza offensive clashed with police in Milan and other Italian cities on Monday as tens of thousands marched in Rome and dockworkers blocked ports in solidarity with Palestinians.
Police in riot gear fired tear gas to try to disperse protesters at the central station in Milan, a Reuters witness reported. The protesters, some dressed in black and others waving the Palestinian flag, used a pole to smash a window at the station and hurled a chair at police during the clashes.
Claudia Greco/Reuters
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in dozens of cities across Italy – shutting schools, disrupting trains and blocking ports and roads – in one of Europe’s largest nationwide protests against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
The protests came as France and several other countries prepared to recognise Palestinian statehood at the UN general assembly on Monday after the UK, Australia, Portugal and Canada did so on Sunday.
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