The President of the Republic made it clear this Sunday that “Portugal has always been on the side of the United Nations”, which, as Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa recalled, means that “There is a right to a Palestinian state”. The head of state made these comments during a protest in front of the Belém Palace in Lisbon, consisting of pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
‘We defend the Secretary General [das Nações Unidas, António Guterres]. We defend. You could say that other Western countries did not defend it. Other Western countries could have defended but did not, but we defended.”’, the president emphasized, questioned by journalists during the protest in Belém. “We stand and will remain steadfastly behind Engineer Guterres and the position he has taken, which is the position of the United Nations, which we just voted for in the last elections. resolution – in which there were 120 votes in favor, 47 abstentions and 14 votes against – in which many EU countries, but Portugal, have always been on the side of the position, namely: there is a right to a Palestinian state,” he said. stressed, surrounded by people who have joined the protest and carrying Palestinian flags, with the slogans “Marcelo learn the history of Palestine”; but also: “We don’t want a smile, we want immediate action”.
“You were very sick”
“You embarrassed us with what you said.”said one demonstrator to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, emphasizing that “It was very bad” in statements to the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Portugal, Nabil Abuznaid, on Friday, when he stated that they “should not have started this war” with Israel and even suggested that they would be moderate and peaceful.
“[Eu] said what Portugal thinks,” Marcelo replied, to which the protester promptly replied: ‘I don’t represent myself in this’. At the end of the dialogue, Marcelo asked the protester if she was “for the Palestinian state.” “I am,” the woman replied. “So that’s what I said,” the head of state concluded.
“You are not a commentator, you are the president of the entire Portuguese people”shot another protester, adding that the head of state “should be ashamed.” “You talk too much”, he concluded. In the lively conversation, always under the supervision of his personal safety, Marcelo remembered that ‘Portugal condemned the terrorist act, but supports Palestine’.
When asked by journalists whether there is a risk of genocide in the Gaza Strip, the president argued that “it is enough to be an attack on innocent victims, civilians, of both sides” to make this “contrary to the humanitarian law”. The President of the Republic emphasized that ‘there had still been no response to the attack and [ele próprio] I have already said that humanitarian law must be respected.”
“I would say even more: a democracy must act within the framework of democracy, even in times of war”he noted, after being criticized by several protesters for his statements against Nabil Abuznaid.
Source: DN
