Women and men in the cultural sector call for an end to the aggression against Gaza

It is urgent to stop the genocide in Gaza!
It is urgent to stop the war from spreading to the entire Middle East!
The people of Palestine need justice, not massacres!

"We see, we hear and we read.  We can't ignore it."

The images of horror coming from Gaza bring to mind the poem and song ["Cantata da Paz," a poem by Sophia de Mello Breyner sung by Francisco Fanhais] that told us of other horrors. In the Middle East, and throughout the world, all lives count, all lives have equal value and deserve to be respected, all actions targeting civilian populations are reprehensible and deserve our condemnation.  It must stop!

There is an organised crime going on in Gaza.  Extinguishing families buried in massive bombardments that wipe out entire neighbourhoods is a war crime.  Cutting off water, electricity, food and medicine is a war crime.  Bombing UN shelter centres, hospitals, schools, refugee columns, medical teams, journalists, churches and mosques is a war crime.  Collectively punishing a people is a war crime.  Vetoing UN resolutions calling for a humanitarian ceasefire is intolerable.  All this must stop, and it must stop now! Every hour that passes, more lives are taken, and with each one, the future dies a little more.

The danger that the massacre we are witnessing in Palestine will spread to the entire Middle East is great and urgent. For the sake of humanity, the race to the abyss must be stopped without delay.

The international community is responsible for a cruel injustice imposed on the Palestinian people.  The independent, viable and sovereign state that United Nations resolutions have promised them for decades has never seen the light of day.  That is the root of the problem.  Therein lies its solution.

As in the poem, let's make the concert of cries heard.  We, artists, women and men of culture, call on people all over the country to express in multiple ways their urgent demands for an end to the aggression against Gaza and for peace in the Middle East.

Humanity will win!

Subscribers (until 13 November)

Adriano Mora Dias Pereira - Musician
Alain Vachier - Music producer
Alexandra Lopes da Cunha - Writer
Ana Borralho - Director, actress/performer, artist
Ana Nicolau - Director
André Albuquerque - Actor
André Levy - Actor
António Alves - Muralist
António Pedro Lopes - Curator, cultural programmer
AP Braga - Singer
Bárbara Carvalho - Musicologist
Carlos Almeida - Historian
Carlos Luís Ramalhão - Writer
Carlos Mendes - Singer
Carlota Lagido - Choreographer, dancer, costume designer
Catarina Romano - Animated film director
Cisela Bjork - Visual artist
Cláudia Marques Cláudio - Teacher and cultural mediator
Cristina Carvalhal - Actress/screenwriter
Cristina Pratas Cruzeiro - Art historian
Cucha Carvalheiro - Actress
Daniel Reis Nunes - Cultural producer and teacher
Duarte Gil Madeirinha Moita - Sound technician
Elsa Couchinho - Clinical psychologist
Fátima Vale - Poet, actress, director of Teatro do Oprimido
Fausto Neves - Musician, lecturer
Fernando Ferreira - Singer and psychologist
Fernando Jorge Lopes - Actor
Filipa Francisco - Choreographer
Flak - Musician
Flávia Gusmão - Actress
Francesco Valente - Musician
Francisca Salema - Musician
Francisco Fanhais - Singer
Francisco Melo - Editor
Francisco Morgado - Music producer
Francisco Rebelo - Musician
Frederico Gama Carvalho - Scientific researcher
Hadessa - Musician
Helder Manuel Ferreira Coelho - Emeritus Professor at the University of Lisbon
Ico Costa - Film director and producer
Idália Tiago - Cultural mediator
Inês Rosado - Actress
Isabel Medina - Actress
Isaura Lobo - Cultural producer
Ivo Ferreira - Film director
Jacira Fernandes da Conceição - Sculptor
Jani Zhao - Actress
Janita Salomé - Singer
Joana Alves - Producer
Joana Figueira - Actress
Joana Pupo - Actress, director and teacher
Joana Villaverde - Artist
João Baptista Alves - Bookseller
João Francisco Santos - Musician
João Galante - Director, actor/performer, visual artist
João Paulo Janicas - Teacher, actor and director
João José Pereira Marques - Teacher
João Miguel Queirós - Lyric singer, Cena-STE union leader
João Pato Tengarrinha - Artist
João Paulo Lucas - Musician
João Pedreiro - Actor
João Queirós - Musician
João Ribeirete - Portuguese literature teacher
João San Payo – Musician
João Torres - Film production designer
Joaquim Paulo Nogueira - Playwright
Jorge Castro Guedes - Director
Jorge Mendes - Artist
Jorge Palma - Musician
José Barata-Moura - Emeritus Professor at the University of Lisbon
José Luiz Fernandes - Journalist
José Goulão - Journalist
Leonardo Silva - Director
Lígia Roque - Actress and director
Luanda Cozetti de Freitas - Performer and composer
Luís Mor Castro - Actor, director, artistic director
Luís Galrito - Singer
Luis Varatojo - Musician, producer
Luísa Ortigoso - Actress
Mafalda Santos - Director and scriptwriter
Manuel Mozos - Director
Manuel Raposo - Architect
Margarida Bakker - Actress
Margarida Cunha Leal Rocha - Architect
Margarida Gil - Director and actress
Maria do Céu Guerra - Actress and director
Maria João Branco - Doctor
Maria João Ribeiro - Designer
Maria João Roupiço Simões - Producer
Marta Martins - Cultural manager
Miguel Ribeiro - Film programmer
Milton Gulli - Musician
Patrícia Guimarães - Teacher, animator
Pedro Fernandes Duarte - Film producer
Pedro Sabino - Screenwriter
Pedro Salvador - Musician
Pedro Saraiva - Artistic director
Pilar del Río - President of the José Saramago Foundation
Raquel Freire - Filmmaker and writer
Raquel Schefer - Researcher, programme maker and director
Rita Andrade - Painter
Rita Correia - Film programmer
Rita Fevereiro - Visual Arts teacher
Rita Cruz - Actress
Rita Lello - Actress
Rita Tomé – Actress
Romeu Costa - Actor
Rui Manuel Matilde Galveias - Musician and producer
Rui Mota - Editor
Sara Figueiredo Costa - Journalist
Sara Gonçalves - Actress/enactor/coach
Saskia Moro - Visual Artist
Scúru Fitchádu - Musician
Sérgio Dias Branco - Professor and researcher
Sérgio Machado Letria - Director of the José Saramago Foundation
Soares Novais - Journalist
Sofia Lobo - Actress
Susana Domingos Gaspar - Dancer and choreographer
Susana Duarte - Cultural programmer
Susana Nobre - Film director
Teresa Cadete - Writer and retired professor
Teresa Carvalho - Visual Artist
Teresa Levy - Professor
Tiago Santos - Musician
Tomás Baltazar - Film editor, programmer at DocLisboa
Vitorino Salomé - Singer

In the image: Dove of Peace (1949) by Pablo Picasso