One year after the Israeli aggression, the people of Gaza was remembered in Lisbon

The initiative "Remember Gaza", which brought together MPPM and a significant number of organizations and individuals in Portugal, aimed at recalling the brutal aggression committed by Israel against the population of the Gaza Strip, from December 27th 2008 to January, 18th, 2009, under codename "Cast Lead", and which caused more than 1.400 deaths among the defenceless population (children, women and elderly people) and had devastating effects on the territory.

The program began with a vigil, in front of the Embassy of Israel in Lisbon, on December 27th, to show the indignation for the monstrous Israeli operation "Cast Lead", to claim for the investigation of the responsibility for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Israel and to demand the lifting of the illegal siege of Gaza.

On the evening of January 13th, the Bookshop "Ler Devagar" hosted three cultural events conceived to express the strong the feelings of indignation and condemnation for the tragedy that struck on the Palestinian people of Gaza. The session began with the interpretation by the group Gestos - Dança Contemporânea of the work "The Fall of the Lead". Then came the staged reading of "Seven Jewish Children", a play by Caryl Churchill, with translation and direction of Bruno Mendes and interpretation of André Sobral, Bruno Mendes, Helena Miguel, Lígia Santos, Jorge Marta, Rita Caeiro and Rita Costa, who culminated in a conversation / debate with the director and actors. The session ended with the reading of "21 Haikus on Gaza", by David Robinson, "Lisbon to Gaza", by Alan Stoleroff, and poems in Arabic read by Shahd Wadi.

At the association "Voz do Operário", on January 17th, was exhibited the documentary "To Shoot an Elephant", directed by Alberto Arce and Mohammad Rujailah, and thus described by its authors: "The day January 18, 2010 represents the first anniversary of the end of the bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israel. An attack that began on 27 December 2008 and lasted until January 18, 2009, in which 1.412 Palestinians have lost their lives. The documentary "To shoot an elephant" is an eyewitness account from the Gaza Strip to what happened during those days. This direct and privileged narrative becomes a tool with which to confront the Israeli propaganda and the international community's silence about what really happened. For its value as a testimony of the civilian population, "To shoot an elephant" became a legitimate story that tells what really happened there. It is an indispensable portrait of what the media are trying to hide, an exceptional soundtrack to be heard by those living under Zionist control ... fragments of reality to show how life is under a war where there is no possibility of escape."

There followed a largely participated debate with the Antena 1 journalist, José Manuel Rosendo.

The celebrations ended with a concentration in the Largo de S. Domingos, in Lisbon, on January 18th, where the names of the 313 children who died during Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip were solemnly read, one by one, while those present symbolically filled 313 black balloons, each with the name one of these children.