Protestors against Gaza throw shoes, burn flags

Demonstrators outraged by the conflict in the Gaza Strip threw shoes and burned Israeli and United States flags in Auckland today, in a passionate but generally well-behaved protest.

Protestors marched from Aotea Square at midday to the US Embassy, where they threw about 100 shoes at the building, considered a grave insult by Arabs.

"It was directed against the main financer and sponsor of the Israeli state, the United States," said Mike Treen, spokesman for Global Peace and Justice Auckland, one of the protest organisers.

The march then returned to Aotea Square for speeches. Israeli and US flags were also burnt during the protest, he said.

The 1000-strong demonstration was well-behaved, police said.

There was significant participation by Palestinian and Arab people, and some Jewish support, as well as by Green Party MPs, unions and some religious groups, Mr Treen said.

"A lot of people there had relatives -- a lot of the young Arabs, Palestinians, knew people, relatives, family in the Gaza, so that concern was expressed as well," he told NZPA.

Other actions were planned, including protest directed at companies and organisations with links to Israel.

"The immediate purpose is for a ceasefire and withdrawal of the Israeli troops from the Gaza, but that isn't the end of it," he said.

"Until the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza ends, they will be a target for the boycott and divestment campaigns."

The Israeli attack on Gaza had given impetus to an international campaign calling for sanctions on Israel before any progress could be made, he said.

At least 800 people have been killed since the offensive was launched on December 27, and another 3330 wounded. The dead include at least 230 children and 92 women.

Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or rocket attacks into Israel over the same period.

Both Israel and Hamas have brushed off a United Nations appeal for a ceasefire.

Hamas said it would not accept a ceasefire with Israel that did not see the lifting of a crippling blockade of the impoverished territory enacted when the Islamist movement seized power in Gaza in June 2007.

The humanitarian impact of Israel's Operation Cast Lead was also becoming more acute, with the UN warning that families were going hungry as food supplies dry up.