The Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC) does not forget the courageous Palestinian people and their struggle to live in peace, free and independent, in a sovereign and viable State with borders prior to July 4, 1967, and capital in East Jerusalem. The illegalities and crimes of the Israeli regime against the Palestinian people are numerous and of extreme gravity, but they continue with the connivance of those who, due to opportunism, effective complicity or, simply, bowed before the great protector of Zionism, the United States of America (USA), pretend not to read, hear, or see:
-The expulsion of Palestinians from their places of dwelling and the seizure of their property; the thousands of administrative detentions and arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment and torture of prisoners, including minors; the repeated military repression of peaceful protests, multiplying hundreds of civilian deaths and injuries; the demolition of infrastructure, inhabited buildings or entire neighbourhoods, and the massacre of their inhabitants; the isolation of Palestinian communities in ghettos; restrictions on freedom of movement within the Palestinian territory itself, with perverse effects on the population’s daily life, including the transport of patients; the confiscation of thousands of hectares of land and villages, and the usurpation of natural resources and best agricultural lands; the unending expansion of settlements (West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem), confining Palestinians to about 12% of historic Palestine; the compulsory transfer of Palestinian property located in Israeli territory to Jews or Jewish entities; the construction of a concrete wall, 85% of which within occupied territory, encircling the Palestinian territories and separating thousands of owners from their properties.
-That Gaza remains surrounded by land, sea and air by Israeli forces, keeping its population trapped in a situation of inhuman dependence and deprivation of livelihoods, even the most basic, and that the discovery of important reserves of natural gas in offshore Palestinian Gaza only fuels the Israeli regime’s ambition to control and encircle this territory.
-That, adding to all this, there are bombings and other aggressive actions by the State of Israel against neighbouring states.
In this context, which has persisted and worsened for more than seven decades, the so-called western world – the name given by the mainstream media to the group of countries that uncritically follow the US command –, instead of taking sides against these crimes and illegalities, prefers to persecute those who denounce them and intervene in defence of the Palestinian people to uphold law, justice and peace. Particularly in the European Union (EU), while the denunciation and condemnation of Israel’s policy against the Palestinian people is shamefully recognised and solidarity with the Palestinian cause is threatened, businesses are established with companies from the Israeli military-industrial complex and agreements with the State of Israel.
The current US Administration continues with the legacy of the previous ones, of unconditional political, financial and military support (the latter alone accounts for more than three billion dollars a year) to the State of Israel. Uses financial blackmail to condition the Palestinian National Authority’s action; prevents international prosecution of Israeli war crimes; refuses to act against the expansion of settlements; maintains the “two-state” rhetoric but does not reverse the decision to transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem.
In a time of great uncertainty and danger, in which vile silence, lies and manipulation prevail, the CPPC not only does not forget the courageous Palestinian people, but also reiterates its unwavering solidarity with their struggle for a sovereign and viable State in the territory that rightfully belongs to them. A state where Palestinian refugees can also return and everyone can finally live in freedom and peace.
The National Board of the CPPC
3rd of November 2022