Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Madrid on June 10 to demonstrate against the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and called on their government, and the European Union, to act.
***image1***People from all over Spain came together to demand an end to the Occupation, the recognition of a legitimate and democratic Palestinian government and an end to the international embargo. Marching under the banner âNo to the Israeli Occupation of Palestineâ they left the Puerto del Sol and continued to the Square Isabel II, where the crowd was addressed in front of the Teatro Real.
Demonstrators carried a huge Palestinian flag and chanted slogans such as âKiller Israelâ and âViva the fight of the Palestinian peopleâ. The march had been organized by a coalition of networks, parties and organization such as the Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of Palestine, CEOSI Comisiones Oberas â CCOO, the Spanish Youth Council CJE, The Madrid Social Forum and the Communist Youth.
The march was led by the general coordinator of the United Left (IU), Gaspar Llamazares, secretary of the Social Movements of the Socialist Labour Party of Spain, Pedro Zerolo, and the general secretary of the Communist Party of Spain, Francisco Frutos.
In his address, Llamazares emphasized the importance of the demonstrations and told the crowd that it is essential to press the international community and Israel itself for change. Zerolo asserted that the European Union, which holds a free trade agreement with Israel, âmust come to a radical change in its policy towards the Palestinian peopleâ.