Turkey's IHH holds 'silent march' protest for Palestine

A Turkish relief organization held a "silent march" on Saturday afternoon for Palestinian people who are currently being held in Israeli prisons.

The youth members of the Humanitarian Relief Foundation's (IHH) in Istanbul gathered in front of Galatasaray High School to begin their protest by marching in a same queue, all the way to Sisli Mosque.

The crowd -- around a few hundred -- started walking by holding banners in Turkish, English, Arabic and Hebrew, demanding freedom for Fawzi al-Juneidi and Ahed al-Tamimi.

Al-Juneidi, a Palestinian teenager, has become the symbol of ongoing protests against U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Al-Juneidi, 16, was detained on Dec. 7 during clashes in the West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil) and dragged away blindfolded by dozens of Israeli soldiers.

Last Tuesday, Israeli forces detained another 16-year-old Palestinian, this time a girl named Ahed al-Tamimi during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank.

Ahed al-Tamimi was taken into custody after Israeli forces raided her home in Nabi Saleh village in the northern West Bank.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency during the silent march, IHH board member and lawyer Gulden Sonmez said the silent march aimed to "shout out" that arrested Palestinian youngsters were not alone.

"Palestinian kids are kids of all Muslims. We will follow their cases," she said.

The UN's 193-member General Assembly on Thursday adopted a resolution on Jerusalem with an overwhelming majority, calling on the U.S. to withdraw its recognition of the city as Israel's capital.

A total of 128 members voted in favor of the resolution, nine countries voted against and 35 others abstained.