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MPPM joined the May Day parade organized by CGTP-IN — General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers, in Lisbon, between Campo Pequeno and Alameda.

We demanded a Free and Independent Palestine and Peace for the Middle East.

Palestine and the Middle East were also present in the speech of the General Secretary of CGTP-IN at the end of the parade:

“We salute the people of Palestine, occupied and humiliated by Israel under the patronage of the United States of America!
“[Palestine will win! Palestine will win!]
“We salute the peoples of Syria and the entire Middle East, a land plagued by the greed of profit and by those who show no mercy to impose their will!”
 

Today we celebrate the 47th anniversary of the April Revolution*. We celebrate the end of the long fascist night and the return to the Portuguese people of their freedom and fundamental rights. We also celebrate the end of isolation and the return with dignity to the companionship of nations.

The Constitution of the Republic, enacted 45 years ago, enshrines the essential values – freedom, democracy, social justice, national independence, peace, solidarity –, the rights acquired and also the commitments made, namely in international relations.

If, with regard to the recovery of individual and collective rights, despite advances and setbacks, there has been undeniable progress, in what concerns international relations, Portugal is taking a long time to accomplish the goals of the April Revolution.

It was April's wish, enshrined in the Constitution, that Portugal should be governed by respect “for human rights, for the rights of peoples”.

The Platform for Peace and Disarmament, of which the MPPM is a member, held a session dedicated to Palestine in Coimbra, on Thursday, April 8, as part of the Youth Day celebrations.

The session began with the screening of the documentary How Palestine became colonized followed by a debate. Ana Biscaia, graphic designer, who has illustrated several books on Palestine, spoke on behalf of MPPM.

Recorded testimonies of five young Palestinians and two Portuguese women who were in Palestine (Ana Carvalho, journalist, and Joana Villaverde, plastic artist) were also shown.

The session, which took place at Espaço Liquidâmbar, was attended by a young and participating audience. Unfortunately, the sanitary measures in place did not allow for a larger one.

March 30 is Palestinian Land Day. On this day, in 1976, Israeli repressive forces killed six Palestinian citizens of Israel who were protesting against the expropriation of land owned by Palestinians, in the North of the State of Israel, in order to settle Jewish communities there.

About 100 people were injured and hundreds were arrested during the general strike and in the large protest demonstrations that took place on that day in different Palestinian localities in Israel.

Since then, this date has been celebrated as Palestinian Land Day, symbolizing the determination of Palestinians — on both sides of the Green Line, in the refugee camps and in the diaspora — to preserve their history and defend their land as an essential element of their identity and their very existence as a people.