Crowds rally against Peres visit to Madrid

PressTV - Crowds rally against Peres visit to Madrid:

Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:52AM
Sonia Labboun, Press TV, Madrid

"Hundreds of Spanish demonstrators gathered in front of the ministry of foreign affairs to protest the visit by Israeli President Shimon Peres. Several human Rights associations, as well as Palestinians living in Madrid also joined the crowd chanting slogans such as “Peres Murderer”, “free Palestine” and “Zapatero accomplice of a criminal”.

Israel is still expanding its territory with new settlements while Palestinians are confined to a small area in their own country surrounded by the Apartheid Wall.
The protesters complain that their government is not voicing their true concerns and that Israel must be held top account for human rights violations.

They are urging the EU to impose sanctions on Israel and boycott Israeli companies and goods. Some also argue that Peres should testify at a court investigating the deadly Israeli attack last May on the Gaza-bound freedom Flotilla.

Despite the protest, however, during a joint meeting, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told Peres that Madrid is interested in expanding strategic ties with Israel beyond issues concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Protesters here are expressing their support to the Palestinian cause and rejecting a tighter relation with Israelis as long as they keep on ignoring international calls to lift the Gaza siege and stop settlement activities.



- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog. Activist and Other Videos on Palestine