More than 10,000 people gathered in Lisbon this Sunday for one of the largest pro-Palestinian demonstrations ever held in Portugal, featuring “politicians, artists, members of collectives, non-governmental organizations, and many supportive citizens.”
The protest was organized by the Plataforma Unitária de Solidariedade com a Palestina (PUSP), which includes Amnesty International Portugal, Greenpeace Portugal, Médecins Sans Frontières, and the José Saramago Foundation, among other civil society organizations.
PUSP stated in a communiqué sent to the newsrooms that the demonstration included “politicians, artists, members of collectives, non-governmental organizations, and many citizens in solidarity with Palestine.”
Protesters marched between Rossio and Largo José Saramago “to demand an end to the impunity and violence against the Palestinian people, calling for unconditional respect for human rights and international law.”
Furthermore, the demonstrators also denounced the “passage of F-35 military planes through the Lajes Base in the Azores, en route to Israel,” considering it “a form of complicity by Portugal with aggression against the Palestinian people and incompatible with adherence to international law.”
The demands of the demonstrators included an “end to genocide, occupation, and the apartheid regime,” the “immediate lifting of the illegal blockade imposed on Gaza and the safe, unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid,” “international accountability for all crimes committed against the Palestinian people,” “suspension of all military and commercial cooperation with Israel while occupation, apartheid, and genocide persist,” and the “application of political, economic, and diplomatic sanctions to those who perpetuate or support these violations.”
The protest featured speeches from Alexandra Lucas Coelho, “a writer bringing the cultural world’s solidarity to the Palestinian people’s resistance,” Rita Costa, “a Médecins Sans Frontières nurse with experience in the Gaza Strip,” Sofia Aparício, “representing the Portuguese delegation in the Global Sumud Flotilla humanitarian fleet,” Dima Mohammed, “a Luso-Palestinian academic and activist,” and Jonatan Benebgui, “an activist from the Jews for Peace and Justice collective – Plataforma Unitária de Solidariedade com a Palestina.”
See the images in the gallery above.
