Hundreds of university students and members of Islamic communities in Bali marched in a rally from the governor's office to the United States Consulate General in Denpasar to protest Israel's bombing of Gaza on Friday.

SOLIDARITY: Students shout anti-Israel slogans during a rally on Friday in a show of support for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, following Israel’s attacks on the region. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)

Protesters carried banners saying "Free Palestine", "Save Gaza, Save Palestine" and "Stop Predator Israel in Palestine", while singing the classic Indonesian revolution song "Maju Tak Gentar".

The march, coordinated by an alliance of Islamic student organizations, demanded Israel cease its bombing campaign, which has killed more than 400 Palestinians, including women and children, in the Gaza strip.

"We demand that Israel cease attacking Gaza and return Palestinian land to Palestinians," said Heri Wahyudi, the rally coordinator.

"More importantly, we want Palestinians to be able to return to their homes."

He said the attack demonstrated Israel's intention to take over Palestinian land and that the peace process, which was upheld in the months leading to the attack, was simply a ruse for Israel to gather up forces.

"There is no other logical explanation for Israel to fire missiles in retaliation against rock throwing," he said.

The students urged both Israel and Palestine to return to the negotiation table to deal with their problems.

"The students want a peaceful, bloodless peace process," Heri said.

"We don't want to see any dead civilians, children dying or mothers holding their dead children."

When asked why the students decided to rally in front of the U.S. Consulate General in Denpasar, Heri said the United States was an active player in Israel's aggression towards Palestinians.

He accused the United States of backing Israel's actions by remaining silent on the attacks, citing the superpower nation's continued arms trade with Israel as "permission" to oppress Palestinians.

Students hoped the new U.S. administration under president-elect Barack Obama and the new Israeli administration to be sworn in early 2009 would bring peace to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

"However, this can only happen if both nations agree to work together diplomatically with Palestinians," Heri said.

Israeli tanks and troops continued to mass along the borders of Gaza while the air offensive intensified for the seventh day in a row.

Israeli officials have said the attacks were intended to end the firing of rockets and mortars from Gaza which has plagued southern Israel for years.

The number of civilians casualties in the air strikes have drawn protests and condemnation from both Islamic and non-Islamic communities worldwide, with Indonesians staging rallies across the nation.

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