Croatia is clearly not against genocide in Palestine, Palestinian representative Salah Abdel Shafi said at a pro-Palestinian protest in Zagreb on Saturday, adding that he hopes Croatia will be on the right side of history with the people "under occupation", and that Israeli leaders will be convicted of "war crimes".
"Croatia has a stance that is not clear against the genocide in Palestine. Croatia is one of the few countries that has not recognized the State of Palestine so far. We hope and are convinced that Croatia should stand on the right side of history with the people under occupation, with the liberation of Palestine and the achievement of a two-state solution," Šafi said in a statement to the media before the start of the program.
The representative of Palestine in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, based in Vienna, in his speech thanked the several hundred participants in the "Whoever is asleep, let him wake up" protest for raising their voices against oppression and occupation while others are "complicit and silent."
He said that Palestinians are relieved since the truce between Hamas and Israel has been in place because "for now the genocide has stopped" and because there will be no occupation and annexation of the Gaza Strip, displacement and ethnic cleansing.
"But make no mistake. This is not peace. We do not trust this Israeli government (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu). This fascist Israeli government," he added, saying that peace requires more than a ceasefire.
The protesters, who chanted "Free Palestine" and waved Palestinian flags, also carried banners with inscriptions such as: "Solidarity with Palestine," "Vukovar, Srebrenica, Gaza," and "Bibi, The Hague is waiting for you," referring to the Israeli prime minister.
'War criminals'
Shafi said that there will be no peace until Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, current Minister Israel Katz and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, whom he called "war criminals", are tried in The Hague.
The United Nations Commission of Inquiry, which does not speak for the organization, concluded in mid-September that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that high-ranking Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, are encouraging the atrocities.
Israel is fighting a genocide charge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague while the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by an attack by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1200 people were killed and 251 abducted, according to Israeli figures.
Gaza authorities say more than 67.000 people have been killed and much of the enclave razed to the ground since Israel launched its military response to Hamas's offensive.
Just a day after the second anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel, indirect talks in Egypt have produced an agreement on the initial phase of US President Donald Trump's 20-point framework.
International condemnation
"In just a few days since the announcement of this agreement, Israeli forces have killed at least six Palestinians, including journalist Saleh Aljafarawi," said a statement from the Initiative for a Free Palestine, which organized Saturday's protest on Ban Josip Jelačić Square in Zagreb.
Captain and lawyer Morana Miljanović, a member of the crew of the ship "Shireen" which was sailing as part of the Global Sumud flotilla transporting aid to Gaza, praised the example of Slovenia at the protest, which introduced "an arms embargo to Israel, limited imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank".
"Croatia, a country with a strong anti-fascist and anti-colonial tradition, has great power to provide a similar example to small states on the periphery of global capitalism. Whether it will, depends on us, the so-called ordinary people. ... Freedom for Palestine because every life is equally valuable and because peace is not possible without freedom among equals," said Miljanović.
Israel faced international condemnation in early October after its military intercepted nearly all 40 ships in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained more than 450 foreign activists.
The Global Sumud flotilla consisted of more than 40 civilian ships carrying around 500 people, including parliamentarians, lawyers and activists, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.
'The fight is far from over'
Since Israel began blocking the flotilla, protests have erupted across Europe and other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence in several cities. Unions have called for a general strike in support of the flotilla, and protests across the country have attracted more than two million people, according to organizers. The Interior Ministry estimates that around 400.000 people took part in the protests.
Miriam Di Paola, an activist with the Italian union FLC CGIL, said in Zagreb that she was happy about the ceasefire, but that "the fight is far from over."
"This genocide exposed the double standards of the West and taught us how fragile our democracies are," she said, condemning Western governments that she said instead of public investment in better schools and health care talk about strengthening defense and "want more wars."
Andrea Moscatello, a psychologist employed by the Doctors of the World organization, said that "our empathy" is not pity, but a political obligation because the genocide against the Palestinians "is not over".
"And it will not end until the world acknowledges that it is still going on. It will not end until the world takes responsibility, and the Palestinians are given freedom, dignity and the opportunity to live. Not survival, but life," she said.
Fighting in Gaza has largely stopped, according to Trump's plan signed by mediators Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.
However, the Gaza Civil Defense said on Friday that 11 people were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on a vehicle southeast of Gaza City, including seven children and three women.
Photo: EPA/ANTONIO BAT
