Thousands of people have rallied this Saturday in València to demand «an end to the genocide» of Israel in Palestine and «a strong response from the Government and institutions» to the «continuity of genocide, siege, and imposed hunger on the population of the Gaza Strip; attacks on Cisjordania and the impunity of the Israeli apartheid regime.»
The mobilization, framed within the coordinated state action day by the Solidarity Network against the Occupation of Palestine (RESCOP), started at the Plaza de Toros de València, around 7:40 pm, and ended at the Porta de la Mar.
A large banner with the slogan ‘Stop the genocide in Palestine. End arms trade and relations with Israel. No port for genocide’ led the march, while the demonstrators who joined this call carried signs with messages such as ‘EU accomplice, + humanity, – economy’; ‘From Abya Yalla to Palestine, Yalla Yalla intifada’ or ‘I am not afraid of State repression, I am afraid of my people’s silence.’
The march was filled, from start to finish, with Palestinian flags and participants wearing ‘kufiyas’ – the traditional Palestinian scarf considered a symbol of struggle. Likewise, chants like «Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people» were heard.
BDS País Valencià spokesperson, Jorge Ramos, denounced, in statements to the media, that Israel «not only commits genocide against the Palestinian people and has attacked several neighboring countries, but now wants to unleash a new regional war against Iran.»
In this regard, he stated that «it has attacked its sovereignty, declared war on it, therefore, Israel, and its ally the United States, is the greatest threat to world peace.» «What is happening is absolutely inconceivable,» he lamented.
Ramos also highlighted that popular mobilization «is greater than ever in many decades.» «In recent weeks, we have been able to get even European governments, accomplices, the European Union, to take steps in line with what the International Court of Justice and the UN General Assembly demand, that is, to not have military or economic relations with Israel, which is the central demand of this demonstration,» he emphasized.
«We continue and will continue to demand the arms embargo in line with relations with Israel and sanctions against Israel,» he stressed, while defending that «it is not only a human obligation to protect the Palestinian people but also to prevent a third world war, which is what Israel is seeking to save itself.»
According to the spokesperson, «Israel is digging its own grave,» as «more and more companies are divesting, more Israeli Jews are leaving Israel.»
«What we ask, and the Spanish Government can do it in any Council of Ministers on any Tuesday, is the immediate approval of the comprehensive arms embargo by Royal Decree, by immediate decree, and it is something that is possible,» he reiterated.
«HAVE TO STOP BEING ACCOMPLICES»
On the other hand, Voces por Palestina spokesperson, Ahmed Hamdan, pointed out, in statements to Europa Press, that the purpose of this demonstration is «to once again demand that the Government stop being accomplices.» «We cannot be accomplices to this genocide in Valencia,» he reiterated.
Hamdan argued that «all kinds of relations with this genocidal regime must be cut off» and emphasized the «need» to impose «an arms embargo on Israel.» «I want actions. Gaza does not need compassion right now, we have seen compassion from many politicians, but now Gaza needs justice,» he emphasized.
In his view, Israel is «obviously creating tension throughout the region,» which «escalates more and more»: «We see how Israel bombs all the surrounding countries without any punishment, there are not even measures, the world is silent right now.»
The spokesperson for Voces por Palestina highlighted that «things are being achieved at this moment,» so he advocated for «not stopping,» as «many things have been achieved thanks to social pressure and the people.»
MANIFESTO
During the reading of the manifesto, the organizing entities emphasized that «there are no words that can describe the genocidal horror that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip» for the past 20 months. «The most unimaginable cruelty is being exerted on the Palestinian people. No data is sufficient to reflect the magnitude of barbarism,» they expressed.
The activists explained that in Cisjordania and East Jerusalem, attacks by settlers, «increasingly armed and aggressive,» occur with «protection or direct participation» of the Israeli army. Specifically, entire villages have been «evacuated,» and Israeli prisons hold thousands of Palestinian individuals under conditions of «systematic torture.»
Likewise, in the diaspora, more than eight million people are prohibited from returning to their lands. «More than 60 laws discriminate against those with Palestinian citizenship in Israel. Israel represents and intertwines the great systems of global oppression: imperialism, colonialism, racism, cisheteropatriarchy, and capitalism,» they emphasized.
Thus, they demanded that «the genocide will not end when Netanyahu’s government ends» but «with the end of the occupation, when the decolonization of all of Palestine is achieved.» Therefore, RESCOP called for «increasing popular pressure» because «for months, organized civil society has sustained a historic and tireless mobilization, and that force is beginning to crack the wall of impunity.»
«We are too late. Israel massacres the Palestinian people every minute. It depends on us. It depends on civil society to accelerate reaching the moment when everyone agrees to end Israel’s crimes,» he stated.
The Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of Palestine demanded the Government and all state administrations «the immediate cessation of all diplomatic, economic, cultural, institutional, and military relations with the colonial and genocidal State of Israel,» in addition to «the total embargo on weapons, military technology, and surveillance to Israel» and «the end of the transit of arms through Spanish territory immediately by royal decree.»
Likewise, they urged the central Government to support «international sanctions against the Israeli apartheid regime,» as requested by the UN General Assembly on September 18, 2024, as well as «firm support and total adherence as a State to the genocide complaints filed by South Africa before the International Court of Justice and the process at the International Criminal Court.» Finally, they called for the repeal of the Gag Law and the «end of the criminalization of solidarity with Palestine.»
In June, 15 other calls have been scheduled in different cities in the Valencian Community, supported at the regional level by the platform BDS País Valencià, Voces por Palestina, Al-Yudur Juventud Palestina, the Foundation Committee to Support the Palestinian People, and the Foundation African Union Spain.
On this day, in addition to the Turia capital, demonstrators took to the streets to shout ‘Enough’ in Carcaixent (Valencia), Castelló, Vilafranca (Castellón), and in the Alicante municipalities of Torrevieja and La Vila Joiosa.
FUENTE
