PONTASSERCHIO, Italy — Funeral services were held Wednesday for a young Palestinian woman who died in Italy shortly after being evacuated from Gaza last week, exposing Italians to the desperate plight of Palestinians in the besieged territory.
The funeral of Marah Abu Zuhri, attended by several hundred people, was interrupted repeatedly by chants of “Free Palestine” and featured speeches by local Italian authorities denouncing Israel’s policy in Gaza and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people.
As Palestinian flags fluttered, mourners stood in prayer before Zuhri’s coffin, which was draped in a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh scarf in a park in the town of Pontasserchio, near Pisa.
Zuhri, 19, had been evacuated to Italy with what Israel had called leukemia, but Italian doctors