By Euronews
Published on
•Updated
Climate activist Greta Thunberg and the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese led a march for Palestine on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. They were joined by hundreds of participants, including Brazilian activist Thiago Avila, a prominent voice who had been part of the flotilla that set sail for Gaza in August.
The protest, organised by grassroots union USB, brought thousands of people onto the streets in solidarity with Gaza and against the government’s plan to increase military spending.
The organisers denounced Italy’s complicity with Israeland openly speak ofgenocide in Palestine, demanding an immediate stop to all forms of military cooperation.
Prior to the march, Thunberg and Albanese attended the “Rebuild Justice” conference, organised by the Global Movement to Gaza at the Roma Tre University.
Thunberg received a standing ovation after addressing the situation in Gaza and criticising the role of international institutions.
“Even the institutions are saying what the Palestinians have been saying all along, that genocide is taking place”, Thunberg told the audience in the assembly hall, stressing an urgent need to end all financial and military complicity. Thunberg reiterated that “the ceasefire is constantly being violated and the Palestinians are still under attack”.
Alongside Thunberg, UN’s Albanese denounced how media coverage suppresses the reality on the ground in the occupied territories.
“I fear that the genocide will continue, thanks to the silencing of the truth,” Albanese warned, recalling that “more than 50 per cent of the Gaza Strip is occupied by Israeli tanks” and that in the West Bank, “where there is no Hamas”, over 1,200 people have been killed since October 7, 2023.
“Italy and the European Union must stop transferring weapons, conducting military exercises with Israel, and trading in technologies that could fuel the ongoing crimes,” Albanese concluded.
Marches took place across Italy, including in Milan and Genoa, but also globally in other major cities across the world. Thousands of people gathered in solidarity for Gaza and Palestine, including in Dublin, Geneva, Paris, London, Berlin, Stockholm, São Paulo, and Istanbul.
Today marks 77 years since the UN adopted the Partition Plan for Palestine, which saw the gradual withdrawal of British troops in the region and the creation of the Palestinian and Israeli States.
Months later followed what Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, when 750,000 predominantly Arab people were expelled from their homes while thousands were also killed.