A demonstration, which according to authorities brought together around 4,000 people, was organized at the request of around 30 organizations in the period leading up to the 76th anniversary of the Nakba (“the catastrophe” in Arabic) which evokes for Palestinians the exodus of 760 thousand people during the 1948 war, after the creation of the State of Israel.

Several protesters held up posters denouncing “a genocide” in Gaza and encouraging “the resistance of the Palestinian people”.

“They forced people to gather in the south of the Gaza Strip (…) and now they are once again being moved from one place to another when there is no longer a safe place”, denounced Jaldia Abubakra, a 57-year-old protester, in reference to the evacuations ordered by the Israeli army in Rafah.

In recent days, Spanish students have organized peaceful camps on university campuses in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, joining the mobilization movement that has appeared at several North American and European universities.

The Spanish Conference of Rectors said this week that it was committed to “reviewing and, where appropriate, suspending” collaboration agreements with Israeli universities and research centers that have not “expressed a firm commitment to peace and respect for international humanitarian law.”

Spain, considered the most critical European voice towards Israel, is trying to influence other European capitals towards the recognition of a Palestinian State.

According to the head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia plan to do so simultaneously on May 21st.

The war broke out last October 7, when Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza carried out an unprecedented attack against Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, most of them civilians, according to a report by the French news agency AFP based on official Israeli data.

More than 250 people were kidnapped and 128 remain captives in Gaza, of which 36 are believed to have died, according to the army.

In response, Israel promised to annihilate Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, and launched an offensive that has so far caused 34,971 deaths in Palestinian territory, including women and children according to the Islamic movement’s Ministry of Health.

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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2558711/madrid-cerca-de-4000-desfilam-em-apoio-a-palestina-e-rutura-com-israel

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