MPPM condemns Israeli attack against fleet of humanitarian aid to Gaza and requires firm attitude from Portuguese bodies of sovereignty

The National Directorate of MPPM condemns in the strongest terms the attack perpetrated by the Israeli navy, during this morning, against a naval convoy of humanitarian aid that caused the deaths of more than a dozen people. Organized by solidarity movements,  bound for Gaza, and taking on board about 750 people of sixty nationalities with 10,000 tons of various products to help the people of Gaza, that group of vessels was attacked, while  in international waters, according to the available news,  by units of the navy of Israel, which sets up a serious violation of international law.

This brutal action of the Israeli armed forces, which occurred only days after the formal accession of Israel to the OECD, most dramatically illustrates the aggressive nature of Israeli politics and its profound contradiction with the principles of peace, freedom and democracy. It is therefore inseparable from the status of impunity that the government of that country seems to enjoy, as well as the climate of passivity, if not active complicity, with which the international community is following the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and, in particular, the brutal blockade that continues to be imposed on the population of Gaza.

The climate of high tension generated by this military operation underlines once again how the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is a serious and permanent threat to the peace and security in the region. It is therefore,  urgent and necessary to mobilize the international community towards the lifting of the siege imposed on Gaza, as well as the development of concerted efforts in order to peacefully resolve the Palestinian issue, while respecting the national rights of that people .

The MPPM calls for the mobilization of Portuguese public opinion towards the repudiation of the action of the Government of Israel. At the same time, demands of the Portuguese Government and the organs of sovereignty in general, a firm attitude of condemnation of this act, and commitment to a policy, consistent with law and international legality, in favour of lifting the blockade on the Gaza Strip and in general, the Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967, the establishment of a viable, free and sovereign Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a just solution to the refugee problem, in line with relevant UN resolutions.