Hundreds of protesters in Lisbon call for end of Gaza blockade

(18 Oct 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Lisbon, Portugal - 18 October 2023 1. Wide pan across of people gathering with Lisbon Castle on top of the hill 2. Mid of Palestinian flags 3. Mid of people holding a big palestinian flag, and sign (Portuguese) reading: “Peace in the Middle East“ 4. Mid of people 5. Various of American-Palestinian family 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Qais (surname not given), American-Palestinian living in Portugal: “I think the message today is, you know, it’s not just about this latest flare up of violence. This has been going on for more than 75 years. You know, these plans to depopulate Palestine, to (inaudible) the Palestinians has been going on since the late 1800s. So this is just the latest flare up as violence. And everybody wants to talk about who did what, you know, two weeks ago or a month ago or a year ago. But you have to look back. And until that historic injustice is corrected, there will always be more and more violence. And that’s the real root cause of the problems. And that’s what we have to fix.“ 7. Mid of family seen from behind 8. Mid of Palestinian flag on balcony 9. Wide of protesters 10. Mid of protesters chanting UPSOUND (Portuguese) “Palestine will win“ 11. Mid of sign reading “Save the children of Gaza“ 12. Wide of Serenah Sabat 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Serenah Sabat, 30-year-old Palestinian living in Portugal: “It’s not complicated as people think it is. Despite, if you don’t want to think about the 70 years back of oppression, of occupation, of apartheid, it’s fine. Think about it now, there are kids that are being killed on a daily basis.“ 14. Close up of necklace 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Serenah Sabat, 30-year-old Palestinian living in Portugal: “It’s not about peace, you cannot come and tell me as a Palestinian ’let’s fix it with peace.’ We have been living this for years now and we have been affected by it directly. Every Palestinian family has a martyr, every Palestinian family has a prisoner, we are affected by it day by day. Peace is not the solution. We need liberation. This is what we need. We need liberty from occupation, from the apartheid. And then we can speak about peace. I just cannot stand it when people start speaking about peace. It’s not peace what we need, we need liberation.“ 16. Various of protest STORYLINE: Hundreds of people gathered in downtown Lisbon to appeal for peace in the Middle East. People from Portugal and around the world, including members of the Palestinian diaspora, gathered under the slogan “End the aggression to Gaza, peace in the Middle East“. The latest war between Israel and Hamas has become the deadliest for both sides. The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza and more than 12,000 wounded, with most of the casualties women, children and the elderly. Another 1,300 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion, which resulted in some 200 hostages taken into Gaza. Militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since toward cities across Israel. With troops massed along the border, Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, though military officials say no decision has been made. A strike on a three-story building in Gaza City on Wednesday killed 40 people and another on a bakery in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza killed four bakers, according to witnesses. AP video by Helena Alves Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: