In the last few days, hundreds of thousands of ordinary people have taken to the streets demanding an end to the murderous Israeli onslaught against the people of Gaza, which had claimed over five thousand lives by October 23. In Cairo on Friday, protesters ignored the tame demonstration organized by supporters of the dictator Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and made their way through police lines into Tahrir Square, symbolic site of the 2011 uprising.

The following day, an estimated three hundred thousand people marched through London in solidarity with Gaza, despite threats of legal repression from the Conservative home secretary Suella Braverman. There were similar protests in cities throughout Europe and North America, from Paris and Madrid to New York and Washington, even as Western governments continue to cheerlead for Israel.

The protests in support of the Palestinian people are a powerful response to all those who would try to force the war on Gaza into the framework of a “clash of civilizations,” as the US political scientist Samuel Huntington infamously dubbed it. The cause of Palestinian freedom is a universal one, and it is attracting support across the carefully constructed and enforced boundaries of race, religion, and nationality.