The Israeli-Jewish Community of Porto (CIP/CJP) has filed a criminal complaint for discrimination, incitement to hatred and violence against the portal Esquerda.net and the authors of the posters presented at the housing demonstration that took place in Porto.
The criminal case, which Luz’s agency had access to this Friday, names “the authors of posters with the inscriptions ‘Neither Haifa nor Boavista, except the Zionist capital’ and ‘We do not want to be tenants.’ murderous Zionists!”, allegedly used at a housing demonstration in Porto on January 27.
In a criminal complaint sent to the Attorney General of the Republic, “The association called “Collective for Palestine Freedom”, the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) information portal “Esquerda.net”, as well as the persons responsible “for the content published on January 30, entitled: “The Israeli capital is increasing pressure on real estate in Porto.”
“Who will be responsible if there is a terrorist attack against the Jewish community of Porto, its members, synagogues, the Jewish Museum, the Holocaust Museum and other institutions? In a country of 10 million people and about five thousand Jews (0.05% of the total population), most of whom arrived in the last decade, the Jewish minority is already beginning to be accused of jeopardizing the basic rights of the Portuguese, such as the right to housing,” the criminal complaint states.
The CIP/CJP claims that on January 27, taking advantage of a demonstration to improve housing conditions in the city of Porto, “elements of the Palestine Liberation Collective, with the approval of this organization, hung posters with the words: “Neither Haifa nor Boavista, outside the Zionist capital” and “We do not want to be tenants of murderous Zionists!”
“The mention of Boavista, the area where the Kadoorie synagogue is located, the heart of Porto’s Jewish community, represents a direct attack on the city’s Jewish community. The same thing already happened three days after the October 7 massacre. 2023, when the synagogue was vandalized with signs reading “Apartheid” and “Free Palestine” in a successful attempt to associate the largest synagogue in the country with human rights abuses rather than Jewish worship and culture.” emphasizes criminal involvement.
According to CIP/CJP, “the mention of “murderous Zionist” landlords represents a direct attack on the Israeli members of this Community who work in the real estate sector in the city of Porto, to which they contribute with entrepreneurship and new ideas,” emphasizing that “investments some Israelis make up a small percentage of real estate investments in the city of Porto.
“The “murderous Zionists” mentioned in the posters and the Esquerda.net newspaper helping them are married people with minor children who study in Portuguese schools and who today are under threat to their physical safety and their jobs. Invariably, as in the Soviet Union, the real names of people who needed to be persecuted, intimidated and destroyed were published,” accuses the Israeli-Jewish community of Porto.
The criminal case report states that on January 30, “the newspaper Esquerda.net also attempted to justify these posters with similar arguments and by identifying – name by name, company by company – Israeli real estate investors in the city of Porto.”
“Without ever specifying that they represent a tiny percentage of Porto investors in this area of the market. Small and large businessmen, all mixed together, in a group, in a scenario of collective guilt, were presented to the population as secondary.” The Portuguese bet was associated with speculation aimed at encroaching on the right of indigenous citizens to housing. Even the construction of hotels was presented as immoral,” claims CIP/CJP.
In a response sent this Friday to Lusa, BE states that “the answer to the allegations addressed in the article is contained in the article itself.”
“As the article puts it, the charge of anti-Semitism attempts to “promote confusion between the Jewish people/Jewish religion and the interests of the Israeli state/companies.” We emphasize that among the initiators of the campaign to boycott Israel there are many Jews from all over the world,” emphasizes BE.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.