Around 800 people, including representatives from around 100 organisations, coming from
North to South of mainland Portugal, headed to Vila Nova de Gaia to participate in what was
a great Meeting for Peace.
With the situation in Palestine rightly concentrating much of the attention (the Palestinian
scarves worn by the participants were by the dozens), it reaffirmed the urgency of putting an
immediate end to the massacre that Israel is carrying out in the Gaza Strip, stopping the
--Take to the streets and express steadfast solidarity with the people of Palestine!
29th November- International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
Dear Comrades and Friends
Thousands of people are mobilising in Portugal to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and in defence of the rights of the Palestinian people.
The World Peace Council condemns the barbarities of the Israeli occupation state and the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, the mass killing of the Palestinian people and the destruction of Palestinian towns and villages.
The WPC member organizations participating in the massive popular demonstrations across the globe express their undivided solidarity with the tortured people of Palestine and their righteous struggle demanding the end of the Israeli slaughter and deadly siege of the Gaza Strip that results thousands of dead and among them thousands of dead children and civilians.
Wave upon wave of Israeli aircraft and missiles have been battering the Palestinian
population in the Gaza Strip. This violence — the most brutal for decades — has
already expended more firepower than the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima and has already
taken more lives of civilians in a week than have died in Ukraine. It is as if the Israeli
government — backed fully by the United States — wants to turn Gaza into a ruin so
as to remove the Palestinians in another act of ethnic cleansing, mimicking the Nakba
(Catastrophe) of 1948.
The Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation expresses its deep concern about the dramatic worsening of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people, expresses solidarity with the populations who are victims of violence and destruction and calls for immediate and effective initiatives in favour of peace, in compliance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations that advocate the materialisation of the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.
The Swiss Peace Movement expresses its solidarity with the civilian population of Palestine and Israel and calls for a quick end to the fighting. The Palestine-Israel conflict cannot be resolved by force. In the current situation, an immediate ceasefire and peace negotiations between all parties of the conflict are needed. However, we emphasize that the ultimate responsibility for the violence lies with the disproportionately powerful Israeli apartheid regime, which has oppressed and discriminated against the Palestinian people for decades.
Once again, the Swiss Federal Council is trying to align Switzerland closer to NATO and thus undermines Switzerland's neutrality. For years, the Swiss government has been integrating Switzerland step by step into the NATO bloc. Recent examples are Switzerland's joining the NATO Sky Shield project and the announcement of joint military exercises. Plans have now been announced for NATO to open a liaison office in Geneva. According to statements from the Swiss Foreign Ministry, the federal authorities are taking precautions “to welcome NATO to Switzerland”.
The World Peace Council expresses its indignation and vehement condemnation about the
recent attack on the hospital in the Palestinian Gaza Strip where many hundreds of civilians died
and many more are injured. This Israeli attack constitutes an unprecedented atrocity of the
occupation regime of Israel against the Palestinian people who are helplessly seeking shelter and
treatment at the hospital. This aggression proves how ambiguous and hypocritical the claim of the
Israeli government is about their right to “self defense”.
