1. The PCP draws attention to the seriousness of the situation in the Middle East, particularly in Palestine, a situation which is inseparable from the open and continuing violation of international law by the US and Israeli governments.
2. The PCP denounces Israel's escalating repression on the Palestinian people and strongly condemns the massacre of demonstrators of the Great March of the Return - who for a year have called for the recognition of the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people - as well as the repeated shelling over the Gaza Strip - whose population has been the victim of an inhumane blockade for more than a decade.
3. The PCP stresses the importance of the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and endorsed by that body last March 22nd, which denounces the scale and gravity of the Israeli repression of the Great March of Return. Just in the period until 31 December 2018, more than 180 people were killed by special snipers from the Israeli armed forces, and more than 23,000 were injured, 6106 of which by firearms.
4. The PCP also denounces the ill-treatment that the Israeli authorities have been inflicting in recent weeks on the Palestinian patriots imprisoned in Israeli prisons and expresses its solidarity with the struggle carried out by the Palestinian political prisoners.
5. The PCP condemns Israel's repeated military attacks against Syria and its continuing threats against Iran. The Israeli regime thus confirms to be a permanent agent of aggression and war in the Middle East and a danger to world security and peace.
6. The March 25 statement by US President Donald Trump, “recognizing” as part of Israeli territory the Syrian Golan Heights, illegally and militarily occupied by Israel since 1967, is yet another serious and flagrant violation of UN resolutions, which makes clear that the confrontation with international law is a continuing practice of US imperialism.
7. The PCP draws attention to the seriousness of Netanyahu's threat - expressed on the eve of the Israeli elections on April 9 - of formally annexing West Bank territories illegally occupied by Israel. A threat that marks a qualitative leap of disregard for international law and a frontal violation not only of UN resolutions but also of the commitments assumed by Israel in "negotiation processes'. The deplorable statements made in the meantime by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, raise major concerns about the danger of this threat coming true.
8. The Portuguese Government cannot ignore the fact that the US and Israeli governments are trying to tear apart seven decades of UN resolutions on Palestine and impose a new escalation of aggression on the martyred Palestinian people. Respect for the principles of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the Charter of the United Nations demand a demarcation by the Government in view of the aggressive drift of the United States and Israel, without which it will become an accomplice of illegalities and crimes. In particular, the Government must proceed to the immediate and full recognition of the State of Palestine on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with United Nations resolutions and as recommended by the Assembly of the Republic.
9. The PCP reiterates its long-standing solidarity with the Palestinian people and the Syrian people, as well as the other peoples of the Middle East who have for decades been the victims of imperialist wars, interference and subversion. Their resistance and struggle is an integral part of the struggle of workers and peoples around the world for their rights, sovereignty and emancipation.
