PCP condemns the criminal offensive of the Israeli army against the Palestinian population, especially in Jerusalem, and in particular repudiates the brutal repression, with the use of live fire, against peaceful demonstrations that has already led to three deaths and several dozen wounded, some in serious condition.
The attempt by Israel to impose new measures that restrict the access to the Esplanade of the Mosques violate the internationally recognized management of that space and is part of a wider campaign that seeks to make the illegal occupation of East Jerusalem irreversible, by creating fait accompli. Regarding International Law and legality, Israel is the occupying force, which means all decisions that prevent free access to these locations and introduce irreversible changes in the landscape are illegal and illegitimate.
The day of protest last Friday, when thousands of people occupied the streets in the West Bank cities for prayer, in solidarity with the Palestinians prevented from accessing the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem, constitutes a vibrant action of affirmation of the dignity of a people and a demonstration of their inexhaustible will to resist against the advance of the occupation.
PCP expresses its solidarity with the Palestinian People, with the progressive forces and the Palestinian national resistance movement in their struggle against occupation and in the defense of religious freedom and the right to free access to prayer locations.
PCP calls upon the Government and the Sovereign Institutions in Portugal to take a position, in agreement with the Portuguese Constitution and principles of international law, condemning the State of Israel for this additional crime against the Palestinian people, demanding the immediate end to all access restrictions to the Esplanade of the Mosques and restrictions to the right to religious freedom, and reaffirming the demand to end the occupation and for the respect of the Palestinian people’s right to constitute a free, viable and sovereign State, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
