Vigil in Faro calls for an end to aggression against Gaza and peace for the Middle East

Responding to a call from the Algarve Confederation of Trade Unions (USAL-CGTP), the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation (CPPC), and the Movement for the Rights of the Palestinian People and for Peace in the Middle East (MPPM), two hundred people gathered in Santo António Street, in the centre of the capital of Algarve, to demonstrate their repudiation of Israel's barbaric aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has already caused more than 10,000 Palestinian deaths (almost half of them children) and enormous material destruction, creating a humanitarian catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

While demanding an immediate ceasefire to put an end to the massacre, the participants in the vigil warned of the danger of the war spreading to the whole of the Middle East and called for a fundamental solution to the issue, which will involve the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state. Solidarity with the Palestinian people was affirmed again and again with the watchword "Palestine will win."

With a presentation by Emmanuel Luz from the Southern Teachers' Union (SPZS), the vigil featured the musical participation of Luís Galrito, accompanied by António Hilário, and the reading of Palestinian poems by Dulce Vilhena. Representing the promoting organisations, Catarina Marques (USAL-CGTP), Sofia Costa (CPPC) and José Oliveira (MPPM) spoke.