A grand rally with a concert in support of the people of Palestine was held in Athens

The rally, which according to various estimates was attended by at least 15 thousand people, took place on Sunday, November 5, in the central square of Athens. Greek and foreign musicians performed before the rally participants, singing songs in support of the people of Palestine, then the protesters marched to the Israeli Embassy.

With the colors of the Palestinian flag on banners, with images showing “what hell the people of Gaza live in,” with the demand for “Freedom for Palestine” on their lips, thousands of people, workers, students and schoolchildren, trade unionists and, of course, Palestinians living or studying in Greece , demonstrated their solidarity with Palestine and at the same time condemned Greece’s participation in this massacre, its support for a “killer state, its participation in the bloody plans of Israel, the United States and EU“.

A grand rally, organized by trade unions and left-wing organizations, began from the central square of Athens – Syntagma. There, participants joined artists performing a “song for Palestine.”

“People of all ages joined their voices with the artists who sang a “song for Palestine”, a song in support of the just struggle of its people for a free and independent homeland,” writes 902.gr.

The rally began with a speech by Palestinian Ambassador Youssef Dorhom, who greeted thousands of demonstrators and conveyed the militant greetings of the Palestinians to the Greek people.

Then a message from Mohamed Amanadi, Commissioner for Popular Organizations and Trade Unions of Palestine, was read out.

Requirement: “Stop all Greek support for the terrorist state of Israel,” George Stefanakis from the Attica Food and Tourism Workers Union emphasized in his speech at the rally.”.

A particularly touching moment was when two small children wearing Palestinian headscarves, speaking in Arabic and Greek, spoke about the lives of children in Gaza and what they experience from Israeli bombing, those who survive…

In a symbolic display of brutality and crimes against the Palestinian people, demonstrators placed mannequins of small children wrapped in the same way as in the harrowing images from the Gaza Strip on the sidewalk in front of parliament, as well as pickets condemning the Greek government’s abstention from accepting the UN ceasefire resolution.

The concert began with the band performing “Ρωμιοσύνη” the Palestinian anthem, written by Mikis Theodorakis at the request of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). It is this musical theme with lyrics by Tasos Livaditis that makes up the song “They Were Once Two Friends.” Two friends who “build castles” with their dreams and their deaths. The continuation was given by more beloved works of the great composer. “We are two, we are three, we are one thousand and thirteen,” “When they shake hands, the sun is confident in peace,” “This land is theirs and ours,” the group sang along with the participants of the action.

The baton was passed to the musicians “Υπεραστικοί”. The artists, known for their ever-sensitive responses to injustice and oppression, poverty and war, could not help but introduce the songs they wrote about Palestine. For her people, who fight with “two hands,” resist with “one body,” and who, through this resistance, become “the seed of freedom.”

Then Dionysis Tsaknis sang the song “Μπαλαμό” for all those who “with their hands and their hearts” “make light for their dreams.” From the podium of the concert, he conveyed his solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people until they find a homeland, and through his lyrics assured on behalf of all protesters: “Even if I have consequences under the law, you will not have me as an accomplice to murder.” .

“When we talk about justice, the road we are walking on has and cannot have an end,” the group “KollektivA” emphasized, leading the crowd with the song of the same name (“The road I take”). They had previously welcomed the millions of protesters around the world, rushing to say they were joining them. “There comes a time when you have to make a choice between good and evil. We made it. I know you did it too,” KollektivA said from the stage and continued with the words “Which side are you on?”

“Magic de Spell” took their place on the scene with the song “Apo far”, which was released in 2005, but its lyrics are still relevant. “Who will you kill from afar again, who will now die in the distance?” – they asked, criticizing the policy that is bleeding nations. “Scream, our lives are lost, gone. Dissolve the dust that covers the light”: the lyrics about death going “to rest in Sarajevo” are just as relevant in their essence, even if today the destination of carnage has shifted to Palestine and the Middle East.

Immediately afterwards, the stage was filled with the rhymes of “Common Mortals”, which they dedicated to the Palestinian struggle. With the crowd following their frantic beats, they denounced “the system that gave birth to mourning,” making it clear that when our fellow humans fall dead, “our silence is our complicity.” Thousands of voices united as they sang for the “peoples of the world” and especially for “our brothers and sisters” who are once again being “gassed in Palestine.”

The group “Revans” conveyed an invitation to travel to Utopia, and together with Rita Antonopoulou they performed the song “Mikrokosmos” with lyrics by Nazim Hikmet and music by Thanos Mikroutsikos. For the people of Palestine who are “deprived of the body to walk” and “shackled in chains.”

After the concert there was a procession to the Israeli Embassy

The number of participants in the rally is indicated by the following fact: when the head of the procession reached the Megaro Musici Concert Hall, the last demonstrators were leaving Syntagma Square.

Outside the US Embassy, ​​demonstrators chanted “Americans are the killers of the people” and “This crime has a signature – NATO, the EU and the Israelis”, “No participation, no involvement, down with NATO and the Americans.”

The march ended at the Israeli embassy building, which was blocked by Greek MUΑΤ police forces. Participants in the protest march chanted “Free Palestine,” and students marching outside the Israeli embassy chanted “Murderers to murderers.”

Edition of the KKE of Greece 902.gr reported that rallies in support of the Palestinian people were also held in Kavale, Chania and other cities in Greece.

Source link