‘Free Palestine!’: protesting Israel’s war on Gaza in Italy and Spain

Amidst the escalation of violence and violations of human rights by the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza and beyond, protests in solidarity with Palestine have spread across European countries since October 2023, including Italy and Spain. This article explores how evolving political opportunities and the tradition of peace movements affected the repertoires of action, the network coalitions and the collective framing of pro-Palestine campaigns in the two countries. We find strong homogeneity in terms of protest trends and action repertoires (marches, boycotts and student camps became the most salient tactics). Coordinating networks developed in both countries; their local chapters helped build cross-sectoral alliances that tried to integrate (struggles of) racialised groups. Finally, ‘ceasefire’, ‘genocide’ and ‘anti-colonialism’ frames became increasingly resonant.