Protest will take place on Sunday at 6pm
A peaceful demonstration calling for an end to the war in Gaza will begin this Sunday, June 29, at 6pm at Jardim Manuel Bívar in Faro.
Organised by the civic platform Algarve pela Palestina (Algarve for Palestine), the protest aims to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and denounce what organisers describe as “genocide and war crimes by Israel” made worse, they say, by the silence of European governments – Portugal included.
“In light of the inaction of European governments, particularly Portugal’s, in the face of Israel’s genocide and war crimes in Gaza, and of the despair caused by the dreadful images of the horrors committed daily against the Palestinian people, the civic platform Algarve pela Palestina is once again calling on citizens to mobilise for a peaceful, non-partisan demonstration in solidarity with Palestine, and for the end of the ongoing genocide,” the group says.
The event begins with a march from the gazebo in Jardim Manuel Bívar to Largo de São Pedro, followed by speeches and an open mic for the public. Speakers include Diogo Costa, from the Palestine Solidarity Committee, on the history of the occupation and the BDS movement; Shanti Fernandes, sharing firsthand voices and stories from Gaza; Maria João Cabrita, reporting on her participation in the international Global March For Gaza; and Sofia Costa, from the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation, on future actions to be organised in the Algarve.
Organisers highlight the worsening situation in Gaza, including a 17-year blockade “worsened by the blockade on humanitarian aid since February 2025,” leading to dozens of deaths from malnutrition – including 57 children – and threatening over 70,000 more children in the next year.
“This siege also denies access to medical care and essential medication to the sick, pregnant, malnourished and wounded, amongst others, as well as access by the international press to the Gaza Strip to document the ongoing genocide,” they say.
At least 56,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, according to official figures cited by the civic platform, along with more than 130,000 wounded – although estimates point to real numbers being much higher.
“Israel has been oppressing and violating the Palestinian people’s human rights on a daily basis since 1948. These systematic abuses are underpinned by the illegal occupation and apartheid regime of the State of Israel. In recent decades, Israel’s military incursions have killed tens of thousands of people in the Gaza Strip and West Bank,” the group says. “However, it has been over the last year and a half that this occupation has taken on even more barbaric contours that are unprecedented in the contemporary history of military conflicts.”
The civic platform also highlights ongoing violations of international law. “Ethnic cleansing, torture in illegal detention centres, illegal and arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial executions, bombing of hospitals, ambulances and essential civilian infrastructure (power stations, water storage tanks, etc), massive bombings in densely populated areas, a ban on the entry of humanitarian aid, and a clearly genocidal public speech by the Israeli authorities, are some of the examples of how Israel continues to violate International Law – as stated by the investigations of the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the United Nations and numerous Non-Governmental Organisations working in the territory – with the support and complicity of several states, including several member states of the European Union.”
The demonstration will thus call on the public to stand up and demand an “end to the genocide and military occupation, to apartheid policies, to EU support for Israel’s actions in Gaza”, and justice and accountability for war crimes.
