Demonstrations will take place at 3pm this Saturday
A ‘National March for a Free Palestine’ will be held on Saturday (February 10) in four Portuguese towns and cities: Faro, Braga, Lisbon and Angra do Heroísmo (Azores).
The protest is being organised by a collective of organisations and associations across the country.
“The war against the Gaza Strip continues without impunity for nearly four months. The human toll is catastrophic: over 26,750 have been killed, over 60,000 homes destroyed, neighbourhoods wiped off the map, and entire families unaccounted for,” the organisers say in a statement to the press.
“There are today 1.7 million refugees (…) without access to drinkable water, food, health care and at risk of constant bombings, while Israeli military raids, violence and arbitrary arrests of Palestinians in the West Bank increase,” they add.
Ending the “genocide of the Palestinian people,” imposing a “permanent ceasefire” and paving the way for the “creation of a free and independent State” are named as “indispensable terms for permanent peace in the Middle East.”
The protests will all begin at 3pm in mainland Portugal and take place at the roundabout near the João de Deus secondary school in Faro, at Coreto da Avenida Central in Braga, and at Alameda D. Afonso Henriques in Lisbon. The demonstration in Angra do Heroísmo is scheduled for 11am at Praça Velha.
In Faro, the demonstration will be followed by an event at the local skate park organised by WallRide which will feature a screening of a Palestinian film and the painting of a pro-Palestine mural.
michael.bruxo@portugalresident.com
