A large crowd gathered on Tuesday afternoon outside the Presidential Palace, in Nicosia, for a peaceful protest against the convening of the “Peace Council” on Gaza at a Cypriot resort from June 30 to July 1.

The protest took place following a call by organizations, political parties, and groups that denounce the initiative as a process which, they argue, bypasses the UN, excludes Palestinians, and provides political legitimacy to plans that violate international law.

Participants held Palestinian flags and banners with slogans such as “Freedom for Palestine,” “Silence is complicity – Freedom for Palestine,” “No submission to imperialism – The only superpower is the people,” “We condemn Christodoulides’ support for genocide – Not in our name,” and “Palestine: 75 years of captivity – Not in our name.”

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During the rally, slogans in support of Palestine were chanted, including “Freedom for Palestine,” “Stop the genocide, free Palestine,” “Israel is killing civilians and children,” and “With Palestine until freedom.” As part of the event, poems were also recited by actress Popi Avraam.

On behalf of the Social Alliance and as the protest’s coordinator, Melani Steliou stated that the so-called, as she put it, Gaza Peace Council “is not a sincere international initiative,” arguing that it bypasses the United Nations, excludes the Palestinians, and grants Israel—as the occupying power—a seat at the negotiating table.

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Ms. Steliou said that the protesters are calling on the Government of the Republic of Cyprus to withdraw its support for the initiative and to uphold, as she put it, international law, UN resolutions, an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. “We demand justice, we demand peace, we demand freedom in Palestine,” he said.

Stefanos Evangelidis, speaking on behalf of ACCEPT, said that the protesters gathered outside the Presidential Palace “for Gaza, for the dead, the hungry, and the displaced,” but also for something that, as he noted, is happening in Cyprus “with the signature of our own government.”

He noted that after World War II, the international community established rules so that, as he put it, the massacre of civilians, the starvation of a people, the seizure of land, and genocide. He argued that international law is Cyprus’s “only shield” and added that the country, as an island that has experienced partition and unenforceable resolutions, cannot remain silent in the face of its violation.

Mr. Evangelides also said that “a friendship that asks us to betray our principles was never a friendship,” noting that the movements exist to keep alive the promise of “never again to anyone.” “We will not remain silent. We will not consent. Not in our name, not on our soil,” he said.

Nikos Trimikliniotis, speaking on behalf of Far Right Watch Cy, stated that the rally was held because, as he argued, the “Peace Council” is being legitimized in Cyprus. He said that the process is not a peace initiative, but a “direct attack” on what remains, as he put it, of international law and the United Nations framework.

Mr. Trimikliniotis argued that the so-called Peace Council is a “personal tool” of U.S. President Donald Trump, and a mechanism that, as he put it, seeks to decide the political future of the Palestinian people without the Palestinians themselves. He added that the Cypriot people know what it means to have others plan their future “behind their backs” and called on the Republic of Cyprus to reject any political legitimization of the initiative.

In a joint statement read on behalf of the organizers, it was noted that the U.S.-led initiative constitutes, in their view, “a flagrant violation of international law” and “a direct attack on the United Nations framework.”

The organizers argued that, despite the Cypriot government’s position that it is neither an organizer nor a co-organizer, its support for the Council, its observer status, and its facilitation of the session constitute a dangerous endorsement of a body “lacking legitimacy.”

Finally, they called on the Government of the Republic of Cyprus to immediately withdraw its support for the initiative, not to provide a platform or political legitimacy for its activities, and to reaffirm its commitment to international law, UN resolutions, an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid, and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

Source: CNA