MPPM shocked by statements made by the President of the Republic

The Movement for the Rights of the Palestinian People and for Peace in the Middle East (MPPM) is shocked by the statements addressed by the President of the Portuguese Republic to the Palestinian Ambassador to Portugal and the media, last Friday 3 November 2023, inside the Palestinian space at the Diplomatic Bazaar held every year in Lisbon.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's statements were characterised by a total ignorance of the ongoing massacre of the Palestinian people.  No demand for an immediate ceasefire was made.  No condemnation, or even concern, was expressed for the indiscriminate bombing of the population of the Gaza Strip, which has already caused almost 10,000 deaths, around 40 per cent of them children. There was no critical condemnation of Israel's attacks on hospitals, schools, refugee shelters, refugee columns, ambulances, humanitarian personnel—when there have already been more than 70 fatalities from Israeli bombardments among the staff of UN agencies working in Gaza.  Not a word of indignation was heard for the collective punishment of a population deprived of water, electricity, food and medical care—and of life—a collective punishment that violates the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.  Whatever the President's intentions may have been, his words can be and are being interpreted, nationally and internationally, as a show of unconditional support for the ongoing Israeli aggression.

Under the terms of the Portuguese Constitution, the foreign policy of the Portuguese state is the responsibility of the Portuguese governments.  Successive governments have expressed, albeit tepidly and often inconsequentially, a position of support for UN resolutions on the Palestinian question.  In the recent vote at the UN General Assembly, the Portuguese government voted, correctly and in the company of 120 other countries, in favour of the motion demanding an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the ongoing massacre in Gaza. The words of the President did not express these positions, nor did they take into account the occupation of the Palestinian territories that the UN resolutions condemn.  More seriously still, they did not express the deep feeling of the Portuguese people that there must be an immediate end to the ongoing barbarism against the people of Palestine.
Under the terms of the Portuguese Constitution, the foreign policy of the Portuguese state is the responsibility of the Portuguese government.  Successive governments have expressed, albeit tepidly and often inconsequentially, a position of support for UN resolutions on the Palestinian question.  In the recent vote at the UN General Assembly, the Portuguese government voted, correctly and in the company of 120 other countries, in favour of the motion demanding an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the ongoing massacre in Gaza.  The words of the President did not express these positions, nor did they take into account the occupation of the Palestinian territories that the UN resolutions condemn.  What's more serious, they did not express the deep feeling of the Portuguese people that there must be an immediate end to the ongoing barbarism against the people of Palestine.

MPPM believes that the best way to respond is to further the flow of civic action that has been expressed on the streets of our country, which, after last Sunday's large demonstrations and the great Vigil of Solidarity with the People of Palestine that took place in Lisbon, continues today, Sunday 5 November, with a demonstration in Porto, and will continue in the numerous actions already scheduled for various parts of the country.

For an immediate cease-fire!

Peace in the Middle East!

Palestine will win!

5 November 2023

The National Directorate of MPPM