The Palestinian people are experiencing one of the most dramatic moments in their already martyred history. Once again, foreign powers and major economic and geo-strategic interests are dictating and seeking to perpetuate, in the absence of the Palestinian people and their representative political forces, the foreign occupation of Palestinian land and the denial of the inalienable rights of its people. In this context, MPPM stands in solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people, welcomes their national reconciliation initiatives and warns of the dangers of a new and greater war in the Middle East.
Peace agreements or winds of war?
Western foreign ministries welcomed, with moderate to enthusiastic approval, the recent celebration, under the aegis of the United States, of “peace agreements” between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, considering that they represented progress towards peace in the region.
MPPM addressed the following message to the Government of Portugal:
Your Excellency the Prime Minister
Your Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs
MPPM – Movement for the Rights of the Palestinian People and for Peace in the Middle East – calls on the Government of Portugal to, directly and through the community instances, in the name of the values and principles that Portugal and the European Union defend, and considering the existence of precedents in similar situations, put pressure on the Israeli government to immediately and unconditionally release Palestinian human rights defender Mahmoud Nawajaa, whose detention is solely due to the exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and association, being, therefore a prisoner of conscience.
Regarding the murder by the Israeli police of the youth Lyad Hallak, and recalling other attacks on the lives of Palestinians with disabilities, the Portuguese Association of Disabled People calls on the United Nations and the Government of Portugal to make Israel respect human rights and, in particular, the rights of people with disabilities.
This is the content of the letter:
Appeal to the United Nations and the Portuguese Government
On Saturday morning, March 30, in Jerusalem, the young Palestinian Lyad Hallak was fatally shot by Israeli border police officers. Lyad was autistic and was on his way to the Elwyn Center, specializing in the care of people with disabilities.
The Borough Council of Quinta do Anjo, at its meeting on 15 July, unanimously approved a motion of solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemning the announced annexation by Israel of territory in the Palestinian West Bank. The executive of the Borough Council of Quinta do Anjo is composed of three members elected from the CDU (Unitary Democratic Coalition) and two from the PS (Socialist Party).
It is perplexing to hear the news recently published [1] of the meeting between the Ministers of Science and Technology of Portugal and of Israel, which envisages closer relations between the space agencies of the two countries, which would culminate in the signing of a cooperation agreement.
It is understandable that Israel, subject to widespread condemnation by the international community due to its systematic disregard for international law and the announced annexation of vast parts of the occupied West Bank, enthusiastically welcomes all manifestations of “normalization” by other countries.
It's harder to understand that, if this report is confirmed, Portugal would lend itself to that role. This would be a serious initiative on the part of a government that to date has not taken a formal position condemning the Israeli government's plans to annex almost a third of the West Bank.
“No to annexation!” and “An end to Israel's crimes!” were the slogans that led three hundred people to gather today at Largo do Martim Moniz, in Lisbon, in a public event called by CGTP-IN (General Confederation of Portuguese Workers), CPPC (Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation) and MPPM and joined by other organizations.
The event began with Palestinian poetry spoken by actor Fernando Jorge Lopes, from Teatro Extremo (Almada).
This was followed by speeches by Beatriz Goulart (CPPC), João Barreiros (CGTP-IN) and Carlos Almeida (MPPM).
It was another day of solidarity with the people of Palestine, like others taking place around the world, demanding bold measures from governments against the annexationist project of Israel.
The Palmela City Council, at its meeting of 1st July, unanimously approved a motion of solidarity with the Palestinian people and condemning the announced annexation by Israel of territory in the Palestinian West Bank. Palmela City Council is made up of four elected members from the CDU (Democratic Unitary Coalition), three from the PS (Socialist Party), one from the PSD (Social-Democratic Party) and one independent.
Faced with the threat announced by the Government of Israel to advance towards the annexation of Palestinian territories on the West Bank of the Jordan River, MPPM took the initiative of promoting an open letter addressed to the Portuguese Government and signed by personalities from public, cultural and academic life, demanding the recognition by Portugal of the State of Palestine and a firm position towards the threat of annexation by Israel.
This is the text of the letter and the list of first signatories:
On World Refugee Day, MPPM expresses its solidarity with refugees around the world — and in particular with the millions of Palestinian refugees — and warns of the urgent need to complement the necessary mitigating actions of humanitarian support to refugees with strong measures to put an end to the policies of aggression, colonization and economic exploitation that are at their origin.
The wars of interference and destruction fomented and supported by the Western powers, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen, were the proximate cause of the waves of millions of refugees in the case of the Middle East.
A long-time militant of the Palestinian cause, he was at the genesis of the creation of MPPM and presided over the General Assembly until his death. His public positions on the Palestinian issue are well known, as well as the unabashed manner in which he expressed them, without shying away from denouncing those who he considered responsible for the situation of the Palestinian people or who were failing to show the solidarity that was due to them.
Today we remember José Saramago by publishing the message he sent to the founding assembly of MPPM, on 23 February 2008. One can recognise in this text his committed and lucid style. One does not notice that it was written 12 years ago.
