Originally published by the World Peace Council
Between the 2nd and 12th of October, nineteen actions of solidarity with the Palestinian people and for peace in the Middle East took place across the country.
With different expressions, between debates, cultural moments with music, painting, dance, even concentrations and demonstrations, the colors of the flags of Palestine, Lebanon, and Peace, filled the portuguese streets and squares in the cities of Coimbra, Setúbal, Portalegre, Alpiarça , Covilhã, Viseu, Porto, Évora, Guarda, Leiria, Beja, Viana do Castelo, Braga, Espinho, Faro, Funchal, Vila Real and Lisbon.
These actions were promoted by the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation, the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers, the Movement for the Rights of the Palestinian People and for Peace in the Middle East and Projecto Ruído – Youth Associtation, following many other initiatives organized by these four organizations, which have been taking place since October 2024
Many thousands of people were involved in these powerful statements of solidarity with the Palestinian people and the people of the Middle East, against the massacre, bombings and occupations perpetrated by Israel with the support of the USA and the main EU powers.
Flags of Palestine and Lebanon gave expression to solidarity and the slogans chanted or written on banners or posters demanded an end to the escalation of war and the creation of the State of Palestine on the borders prior to June 1967.
The parade in Lisbon, which concluded the great Journey, ended at Praça do Município where, in addition to Noor Tibi, a Palestinian living in Portugal and Alan Stoleroff, member of the Jews for Peace and Justice collective, representatives of the promoting organizations, Ilda Figueiredo, from CPPC, Carlos Almeida, from MPPM, Tiago Oliveira, from CGTP-IN and Inês Reis, from Projeto Ruído took the floor for the speeches.
The struggle for peace and solidarity with the people of the Middle East continues, even stronger!
Palestine Will Win!
Appeal used for the mobilization
Free Palestine! Peace in the Middle East!
It is necessary to put an immediate end to the genocide of the Palestinian people, carried out with impunity by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
A free Palestine and Peace in the Middle East are urgent!
Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip – which will mark one year of its brutal intensification in October – has already caused more than 40,000 deaths and more than 92,000 injuries, the majority of them civilians, including many thousands of children.
With each passing day the suffering of the Palestinian people increases, subjected to the horror of the massacres committed by Israel, which, with its colonialist and racist policy, continues to pursue its objective of annihilation and expulsion of the Palestinian people from their land. Israel forces the Palestinian population to move from territory to territory, from location to location. Virtually the entire population of the Gaza Strip – 9 out of 10 Palestinians – has been violently displaced more than once due to Israeli attacks.
In addition to the destruction in the Gaza Strip – with the indiscriminate and purposeful bombing of residential neighborhoods, medical facilities and hospitals, refugee camps, humanitarian agencies, schools, places of worship or culture – Israel increases the blockade that keeps the region without energy and prevents the entry of food, water, medicines and essential medical equipment, promoting the spread of hunger and disease.
At the same time, Israel launched a major offensive against the West Bank, which accentuates the effects of daily violence by the Israeli army and settlers and which has caused more than 6,000 victims, including deaths and injuries.
With the intensification of repression by Israel, which led to the arrest of around 10 thousand people, including children and young people, the attack on the labor and movement rights of the Palestinian people is worsening, increasingly worsening their living conditions.
Alongside these heinous crimes, Israel – the only nuclear power in the Middle East – insists on escalating confrontation throughout the region, maintaining and intensifying attacks on neighboring countries that oppose its policy of occupation, colonization and genocide, threatening the danger of a widespread war in the Middle East, with catastrophic consequences for its people and repercussions throughout the world.
This warmongering path of death, suffering and destruction must be stopped. There is an urgent need for a political solution that necessarily involves an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the end of the occupation, settlements, Israeli oppression, and the realization of the national rights of the Palestinian people, with the creation of the State of Palestine , as determined by international law, including in numerous UN resolutions.
We must denounce the profound hypocrisy and complicity of the USA, the United Kingdom, the European Union and several governments of European countries, which from the beginning support Israel’s policy and cover its war crimes, deliberately disregarding international law. The portuguese Government is required to suspend cooperation with the State of Israel, particularly in the military field, and to recognize the State of Palestine.
So, continuing to:
- demonstrate our deep and permanent solidarity with the Palestinian people and their just national cause;
- demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an end to the escalation of confrontation by Israel in the Middle East and peace in the region;
- demand respect and fulfillment of the national rights of the Palestinian people, with the creation of the State of Palestine, as determined by numerous UN resolutions;
- demand from the Portuguese Government the defense of the rights of the Palestinian people, in accordance with constitutional principles and international law.
We call on everyone to join us in the National Solidarity Day actions that will take place across the country
Free Palestine! Peace in the Middle East!
