Bulatlat News
By NUEL M. BACARRA
Kodao Productions / Bulatlat
To commemorate the 76th year of Nakba, progressive groups in the Philippines held a protest in support of Palestine at the Boy Scout Rotunda in Quezon City last Wednesday, May 15.
“Nakba” is the Palestinian word for “catastrophe” that describes the displacement of around 750,000 Palestinians when 530 communities were depopulated in 1948 after the creation of the Jewish state of Israel.
During the protest, Filipino activists decried that the Philippines is next only to India in terms of purchases of armaments from Israel amounting to billions. Last year alone, a $114 million contract between the Philippines and the Israeli government was forged for refurbishing two planes for intelligence gathering. Such contracts, the group said, help fund Israel’s genocidal wars against the Palestinian people.
The protesters said Israel’s crimes against Palestinians continue as 35,000 have been killed since October 7 last year in the latest and ongoing military operations in the Gaza strip.
The United Nations (UN) reported that 7,797 of the Palestinian victims were children and 4,959 were women as of this month. In the last 24 hours, 72 Palestinians have been killed, UN added.
International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) Secretary General Liza Maza said: “Marcos and (Indian Prime Minister Nerendra) Modi are not only puppets of the US but also support genocide by continuing their lucrative arms deals with the Zionist state.”
Kabataan Party List Rep. Raoul Manuel meanwhile said that there are similarities between the Filipino youth and the Palestinian people in terms of struggles.
“There are those who conspire to destroy lives and continue to repress the people who fight in the Philippines, in Palestine and anywhere in the world,” he said.
Manuel added: “We, the youth, together with the people will fulfill our role to liberate all countries that are occupied and free the people from all oppression and exploitation.”
ILPS said the activity was part its call for global protests against the genocide in Palestine and in solidarity with the Palestinians’ right to return to their homeland.
The global network also called for the strengthening of people’s movements to condemn and expose the US-Israel genocidal conspiracy.
ILPS said: “We must flood the streets and tirelessly call for the end of the genocide. On Nakba Day and the days after, we must demand justice for the Palestinian people’s right to retire to their homeland.”
