A protest organized by a group named “Romania-Palestine solidarity” took place on Sunday, May 15th, in Bucharest, on the occasion of the 74th commemoration of Nakba Day, a tragic day for the Palestinian people. The protest was also joined by leftist organizations, namely the Marxist Youth Bloc (BTM), Fridays for Future Romania (FFF Romania) and the Socialist Youth Union (UTS), as well as representatives of the anarchist movement.
As Marxists, we participated in this protest to show our solidarity with the millions of Palestinian refugees who are not allowed to live on their lands and who are constantly subjected to ethnic cleansing by the Tel Aviv regime. We believe that every Marxist has a duty to actively support the just struggle of the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation.
Last week, both the Marxist Youth Bloc and Fridays for Future Romania launched public calls on Facebook and Instagram to their supporters to participate in the protest. The Marxist Youth Bloc has shown that the Zionist occupation is not just a Palestinian problem and that the overthrow of Zionism is in the interest of the entire world proletariat, solidarity between the oppressed Palestinian population and the working class everywhere being vital to the success of the Palestinian resistance. For its part, Fridays for Future Romania pointed out in its appeal that colonialist, imperialist and capitalist systems that oppress the Palestinian population are also at the root of the climate crisis as Israel destroys ecosystems in the occupied territories, destroys secular olive groves that ensure resistance to drought, as well as solar panels donated to the Palestinians, the anti-zionist struggle being a fight against ecological racism too. The same post also explained how the pro-Israel discourse has recently begun to incorporate greenwashing topics such as who is best equipped to combat the impending climate disaster and the problems that arise from it.
On May 15th, during the protest, the BTM, FFF Romania and UTS delegations fluttered Palestinian flags and displayed placards with messages such as “Israel violence, Palestine resistence!”,“Not a conflict, but a genocide. Save Palestine!” and “We are all Shireen Abu Aqleh!”. The march started in University Square and and ended in Victory Square.
Slogans were shouted during the march, such as:
- “Free, Free, Palestine!”
- “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”
- “United we save Palestine!”
- “Freedom! We want justice!”
- “Down with the occupation! Down with the apartheid!”
In conclusion, we thank all those who have shown genuine anti-imperialist and anti-fascist spirit by participating in this march, as well as those who, although unable to come for objective reasons, have been involved in the online mobilization last week. We will always support the just cause of the Liberation of Palestine.
