The Portuguese Communist Party condemns the brutal violence of the Israeli military forces against the many thousands of Palestinian demonstrators who, on Land Day, demonstrate on the so-called Great March of Return. So far, the death toll has reached 15, with about 1,000 injured, with reports of Israel's use of tanks, fighter jets, drones and snipers.

This real massacre on March 30, 2018 portrays the dramatic reality of the Palestinian people. Expelled from their land, living under occupation or scattered in refugee camps, permanent victims of war, massacres and brutal acts of repression, the Palestinian people do not see any prospect of a political solution, from the so-called international community, to the problem that was guaranteed to them, for seven decades, in numerous United Nations resolutions: the creation of a viable and sovereign Palestinian state in Palestinian territory with East Jerusalem as the capital, ensuring the right of return of the refugees.

The provocation by US President Trump, in announcing the recognition of 'undivided Jerusalem' as the capital of Israel and the transfer of its Embassy to that city, openly disregarding all UN resolutions and even US commitments regarding the status of that city, show not only the permanent complicity of the imperialist superpower with Israeli crimes, but also the hypocrisy of repeated appeals for political solutions which never correspond to concrete actions.

The PCP calls for increased solidarity with the Palestinian people and their heroic struggle in this year which marks the 70th. anniversary of the Nakba - the catastrophe of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians that followed the 1948 creation of the State of Israel. A solidarity that will have to find concrete expression in the coming days and weeks, specially on May 14, the day of Trump’s announced provocation.