The Diplomat
Some 10,000 people took part in yesterday’s march in support of the Palestinian people, which passed through several streets in the centre of Madrid chanting “Palestine Freedom”, according to figures from the Government Delegation of Madrid.
The “Solidarity with Palestine Demonstration” started from Atocha and ended at Puerta del Sol, where a demonstrator hung a large Palestinian flag on a lamppost and a joint manifesto was read out by the organising organisations: Samidoun, Alkarama, Al-yudur, Masar Badil or Palestinian Youth, among others, reports Efe.
“The Palestinian people are dying” shouted the spokesperson of the associations to the demonstrators, many of them wearing Palestinian scarves and with the flag painted on their cheeks.
The slogans chanted at the march, which was attended by a large number of families with children, called for an end to the violence against Gaza: “It’s not a war, it’s genocide”, “Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people” or “Where are the sanctions on Israel”.
A group of young people carried three funeral wreaths to express their grief for the victims of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, with various messages, such as “Victims of genocide we are with you”.
Another group of Palestinians living in Spain, dressed in “kufiyas” (traditional Palestinian headscarves) and women in hijab (headscarves), carried a large flag as they demanded an end to “Israeli genocide”.
Leaders of Podemos and Más País joined the demonstration separately, but with similar messages addressed to the Spanish government to “stop showing complicity” with Israel.
The secretary general of Podemos and minister for Social Rights and Agenda 2030, Ione Belarra; the spokesperson of this formation, Isa Serra; the deputy of Sumar, Íñigo Errejón and the spokesperson of Más Madrid in the regional Assembly, Mónica García, among others, attended this act of protest and solidarity.
“Defending peace means a ceasefire and diplomatic channels, but also a lasting peace, which means putting an end to the occupation of Palestinian territory, putting an end to the systematic violation of human rights experienced by the Palestinian population”, said the Podemos spokesperson.
For his part, Errejón agreed that the only viable solution to the conflict is for the Palestinian state to be recognised and for Israel’s occupation of the territory to cease, and he added his voice to calls for an end to the bombings, which, he said, are not a defence against a terrorist attack but an “ethnic cleansing”.
