PCP and BE joined a demonstration in Lisbon this Friday that called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, with the parties calling for greater action from the Portuguese state to “stop the massacre” and hold Israel to account.
This Friday, more than a thousand people took part in this demonstration under the slogan “Peace in the Middle East, an independent Palestine”, which began in Martim Moniz and will end in Largo José Saramago (formerly Campo das Cebolas), and in which the Most common slogans were: “Palestine will win” or “Free Palestine, stop the massacre.”
PCP Secretary General Paulo Raimundo joined the demonstration in the middle of Rua do Ouro and said that the “strong message” heard on the streets of Lisbon this Friday “must change the situation.”
“This is a demand that the massacre of the Palestinian people, who are being massacred, destroyed and expelled from their land, must be stopped,” said Paulo Raimundo, who was accompanied by parliamentary leader Paula Santos and several current and former PKP deputies.
When asked about the actions of the Portuguese state, Paulo Raimundo said that “it must do more, make its voice heard in all the places where it is, in connection with the demand for a ceasefire.”
“The Portuguese state has an obligation to respect the Constitution, to call for the resolution of armed conflicts through political means and to ensure compliance with the United Nations resolutions to which it is a signatory,” he said, considering this a position of “deep hypocrisy.” “deep cynicism” on the part of several states.
In the same spirit, BE director Fabian Figueiredo believes the Portuguese government needs to “move from words to actions.”
“Thousands of people in the streets are asking for this: to move from diplomacy of words to diplomacy of action and to hold the State of Israel accountable for the carnage it causes,” he said.
The Lisbon parliamentary candidate also said the Portuguese state must stop “doing business with those who profit from war”, saying he described UN-listed multinationals as being based in settlements, citing KP as an example.
“Unfortunately, every day there are more and more reasons to take to the streets, more than 17,000 civilians are dying, most of them women and children,” stressed Fabian Figueiredo, calling on the Portuguese government to “stand firmly” with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Nations Antonio Guterres has made “desperate calls” for an immediate ceasefire.
The demonstration was organized by the Movement for the Rights of the Palestinian People and for Peace in the Middle East (MPPM), the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP-IN) and the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC). ).
At the start of the demonstration, CGTP Secretary General Isabelle Camarinha called for an end to the bombing of Israel so that humanitarian aid could be provided to Gaza, vowing to continue the protests as long as they lasted.
“There must be an immediate ceasefire and resolution of this conflict through international law and compliance with United Nations resolutions that provide for a two-state, independent Palestinian state, ending decades of occupation,” he urged, declaring that “… the world cannot come to terms with the fact that this genocide continues to occur.”
In the same sense, CPPC Board President Ilda Figueiredo, a former PCP MEP, found it unacceptable that two months after the “events in Israel” which she said she condemned – a reference to the Hamas attacks on October 7th – Israel “continues to kill Palestinians”, including more than 6,000 children.
“The whole world must demand that Israel stop this massacre,” he urged.
The demonstration took place in an orderly manner for about an hour and a half, welcoming scores of tourists and Portuguese Christmas shoppers in central Lisbon filming and taking photographs – dominated by the blue and white flags of the CPNC, but also many from Palestine, with several wearing traditional Palestinian scarves.
The Islamist group Hamas, classified as a terrorist group by the European Union and the United States of America and controlling the Gaza Strip, launched an unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7, killing and kidnapping soldiers and civilians, including children.
Hamas has killed more than 1,400 people in Israel and taken more than 200 hostages, according to the Israeli government.
The Israeli military responded to the Hamas attack by bombing and cutting off supplies of water, food, electricity and fuel to the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million people, followed by a ground offensive in the north of the territory that it now extends south.
The war between Israel and Hamas, which has now ended two months and continues to threaten to spread throughout the Middle East region, has so far killed more than 17,000 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them civilians, and injured more than 40,000. The most recent estimate by local authorities, confirmed by the UN, is about 1.9 million displaced, also according to the UN.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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