Tomorrow, Friday from 5 to 8.30 p.m., the Auditorio de Casa Árabe in Madrid will host the seminar Palestine and the challenges of the 21st century, organized by Amnesty International and the General Union of Palestinian Communities in Europe, two round tables with the participation of Ilan Pappé. The event can be followed live on the Casa Árabe YouTube channel.
In a context of critical situation of the Palestinian people due to the war that Israel is fighting frontally in Gaza and with other methods in the West Bank, it is essential to review not only the events since 7 October 2023, but the different dimensions of an occupation that has lasted for more than seven decades: humanitarian, economic, the situation of Palestinian prisoners, or the use of Zionism as a weapon to extend colonization.
According to the latest estimates, Israel’s response to the Hamas attack on 7 October has resulted in 43,000 deaths, of which 18,000 are children. To these must be added 101,800 injured, there are more than 53,000 wounded children and children with permanent disabilities. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child says that “Israel has killed more children in Gaza than men and women”.
The Gaza Strip has been blocked by sea, land and air for more than 17 years. On the other hand, at the edge of the waters of Gaza, in the Mediterranean Sea, there is a significant natural gas field. At the end of October 2023, the Israeli Ministry of Energy granted two operating licences to each consortium, one involving the British BP and the Italian ENI. Many observers link the fierce attack on Gaza with Israeli energy expansion.
The first round table will be held in Spanish and will begin at 5 pm, with a welcome by Irene Lozano, general manager of Casa Árabe, who will be followed by Raquel Martí, executive director of UNRWA Spain, to talk about the work of their organization and the economic difficulties and persecution of UNRWA by the State of Israel. Alejandro Gálvez Robles, analyst at Amnesty International, will then present Amnesty’s latest report on Palestine and the Israeli apartheid policy. The Arabist Carmen Ruiz Bravo-Villasante will discuss the situation of Palestinian political prisoners (men, women and minors) in Israeli prisons. And Jamil Mahmoud Abousada, head of the General Union of Palestinian Communities in Europe, will give a historical review of Israel’s occupation of Palestine from the Balfour Declaration to the present day. To attend this round table, you must register in advance using this form.
The second round table will start at 7 p.m., and will have as its keynote speaker Ilan Pappé, Professor of History at the University of Exeter, who will address the issue of Zionism as a colonial political system and its negative effects on coexistence between the different ethnic groups living in Palestine and peace in the Middle East region. He will be accompanied by Ramón García-Catalán Fernández, president of Amnesty International Madrid, and Jamil Mahmoud Abousada, director of the General Union of Palestinian Communities in Europe. The talk will be in English with simultaneous interpretation.
