The League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia and the Student’s Front, in collaboration with the Palestinian diaspora in Serbia, organized a protest on Sunday, 6 of October 2024, titled “Serbia for Palestine”, expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people, the residents of Gaza, and Palestinian prisoners in Israel, as well as with the people of Yemen and Lebanon, victims of Zionist and imperialist aggression. The gathering was held at the main square in Belgrade, the Republic Square, and among the speakers were the Ambassador of the State of Palestine in Serbia, Mohamed Al Namur, the First Secretary of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ), Comrade Miloš Karavezić, the First Secretary of the Student’s Front, Comrade Vukašin Žunić, the Executive Secretary of the New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ) and the municipal assembly member in Zemun, Comrade Aleksandar Đenić, the President of the Network for the Defence of Humanity (MOČ), Comrade Ratko Krsmanović, and the representative of Palestinian students from Gaza, Tarek Z. Abdal Jawad.
The event was also attended by the Ambassador of Cuba, Leide Ernesto Hernandez Rodriguez, the Ambassador of Venezuela, Jadis Briseno, as well as representatives of the embassies of Belarus, Algeria, Iran, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya. National Assembly member Bojan Torbica was also present, along with representatives of the Movement of Socialists and the Serbian-Cuban Friendship Assotiation.
The reason for this protest was the commemoration of one year since the beginning of the ongoing ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza, conducted by the Zionist regime, which began on the 7th of October 2023. The speakers called for international solidarity with the Palestinian people and an urgent end to the genocide that Israel is carrying out against the residents of Gaza. So far, over 43,000 people have been killed due to constant attacks by Zionist forces on residential buildings, schools, hospitals, mosques, and churches, half of whom are women and children. The residents of the occupied West Bank suffer daily violence from Israeli authorities and settlers, while around 10,000 innocent people, including 300 women and 635 minors, are held in Israeli prisons.
In addition to the genocide against Palestinians, the Zionist regime of Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to draw the entire Middle East into war. The Israeli military provokes and incites conflicts with Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iran daily, seeking to provoke a broader war and involve its imperialist allies, led by the United States.
Participants at the gathering chanted slogans: “Kosovo is Serbia – Palestine is a state,” “Free Palestine,” and “Down with occupation!”
The League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia and the Student Front declared:
We oppose the sale of arms to Israel and diplomatic relations with Israel while the occupation of Palestine continues. Down with Zionism! Long live Serbia! Long live Palestine!
Secretariat of the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia
October 7, 2024.
