Israeli attacks on Christian and Muslim holy sites have continued and increased under the watch of the new, right-wing Israeli Government.
The Church of Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish was set on fire and its walls spray painted with hate speech on Thursday June 18th by Israeli terrorists. The historical church, known as the site where Jesus Christ multiplied fish and loaves of bread, was torched in a vicious attack as a direct consequence of the calls for recognition of Israel as a ‘Jewish State’ and Jerusalem as the eternal and undivided capital of the Jewish people. The culture of impunity that has been granted to Israel has allowed Israeli extremists to escalate their racist attacks against Palestinians and degrade our holy sites without any legal accountability.
The Presidential Committee calls upon the international community to take series of actions to immediately stop the systematic attacks against our holy sites.
It was a great joy, for all of us at the Diplomatic Mission of Palestine in Portugal, to learn that the Palestinian 18 years old, journalist students and folk dancer Lina Khattab, was released from the Israeli occupying prisons:
We are sure that it will be greater joy for us and for all peace lovers when all political prisoners are released.
More than 6 thousands Palestinian political prisoners are held unfairly in the occupying prisons for years (some more than 20 years) for the crime of being freedom fighters.
The Portuguese Deputy Prime-Minister Mr. Paulo Portas attended the meeting of Arab Diplomats accredited to Portugal, held on the 2nd of June 2015, at the residency of the Ambassador of the Tunisian Republic her Excellency Mrs. Saloua Bahri . During the meeting they discussed the bilateral relations between the Arab countries and Portugal, as well as the latest developments in the Arab world.
photos collected from the archive of Palestinian Nakba
Nakba, meaning catastrophe, is commemorated by Palestinians throughout the world on May 15 every year. It marks the loss, dispossession and historic injustice suffered by the Palestinian people, through the forced expulsion from their homeland by Israeli
forces and Zionist militia. Nakba commemorates the period when approximately 800,000 Palestinians, at the time 67% of the population, became homeless and/or, stateless refugees. Today, it is estimated that 7 of the 11 million Palestinians around the world are refugees -inside and outside Palestine-, still roughly two-thirds of the Palestinian people.
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) maintains that without a just and comprehensive resolution to the plight of Palestinian refugees, which includes the recognition of their loss, pain, and suffering, a comprehensive and viable peace in the region will remain elusive.
In addition to the loss of material property, including homes, land, orchards, groves, gold, money and other valuables, Nakba marks a cultural catastrophe for the Palestinian people, a loss they are still struggling to recover from.
Nakba, for Palestine, is about the loss of potential on a mass scale. It is about reducing a vibrant and highly accomplished culture into one filled with bitter-sweet memories consumed by the national cause of return and justice. Entire villages were destroyed, then rebuilt and renamed; books, music collections and works of art were left behind as people ran for their lives, expecting to return a few weeks later; sports clubs and social organizations disappeared with the communities of which they were a part. It was a systematic campaign of death, destruction, and cultural obliteration, carried out against a nation whose vibrant culture was forcibly stunted.
This document is a snapshot of Palestine before the Nakba. It is by no means comprehensive. Its aim is to provide a window into the Palestinian cultural achievements before 1948 and the devastating effects of this cultural Nakba on the Palestinians, a people whose sheer resilience has preserved a threatened heritage and collective memory. With perseverance and creativity, Palestinians have rebuilt, time and again, their institutions and reconstructed their cultural life, overcoming repeated setbacks and assaults. In short, Nakba is an on-going story of survival
The National Assembly of the Republic (Parliament) of Portugal voted on April 17 – Palestinian Prisoners’ Day – to stand in solidarity with imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarian and leader Khalida Jarrar, calling for her immediate release. This is the first national parliamentary resolution to call for Jarrar’s release. Earlier, 58 Members of European Parliament issued a letter in support of Jarrar.
The vote of solidarity, proposed by the Portuguese Communist Party, was approved by the Parliament’s Plenary Meeting number 75, with the Socialist Party, Portuguese Communist Party, Left Bloc and the Greens in favor.
The Portuguese Minster of foreign Affairs Rui Machete affairs attended the meeting of Arab Diplomats accredited to Portugal, held on 8th of April 2015, at the residency of the Ambassador of the United Arabs of Emirates. During the meeting they discussed the bilateral relations between the Arab countries and Portugal, as well as the latest developments in the Arab world. On the issue of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Minster Rui Machete, said:
“The Middle East region continues to be maelstrom of conflicts, some of them striving for decades. This is the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Portugal, as you know so well, has been a long and strong supporter of a two-state solution that can see a free and sovereign Palestine coexist peacefully and respectfully with the State of Israel. I am fully aware that the peace process suffered a couple of set-backs in recent times, but we are determined to introduce a new dynamics to it, to engage on a dialogue with both parties and lead them into a negotiation process that can finally achieve that two-states goal. With that in mind, the European Union has recently appointed a new Special Representative, the Italian diplomat Fernando Gentilini, with whom we intend to work closely and support his efforts. As most of you witnessed, at the National Assembly, the Portuguese Parliament approved a resolution asking for the recognition of Palestine as a sovereign State. I also attended the vote, especially to express the Government’s compromise to the two-state solution and our commitment to the creation of a fully functioning, well structured, democratic and sovereign State of Palestine. As I announced on my intervention on that day, the Portuguese Government will try to identify the best moment for that recognition to occur. We hope that a new momentum in the peace process can help us achieve the conditions that we consider best, for we would like that recognition – hopefully not only by Portugal but, in a concerted way, also by a growing number of countries – could have a decisive and positive contribution to the negotiations.”
The Diplomatic Mission of the State of Palestine in Portugal, in addition to representing the interests of the Palestinian community in Portugal aims to:
Strengthen the already good relations between the state of Palestine and the republic of Portugal; government, community, media outlets and all those who believe that the Israeli military occupation of the state of Palestine should end.
Keep the Portuguese public informed on relevant developments and awareness of the issues that continue to challenge our people under Occupation.
Provide academic and professional information and research on Palestine to enrich knowledge and understanding of the region and the nature of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Build as many bridges as possible between the state of Palestine and the Republic of Portugal at all levels through understandings and agreements in every possible field; trade, tourism, research etc.
Benefit from our shared, Portuguese and EU human values to strengthen the resolve of the Palestinian people to achieving their overall goal for self-determination and to materialize the internationally endorsed two states solution as a means to bring a long and lasting peace in the Holy Land and the rest of the region.
