by Stéphanie Ngulula

Municipal Councillor

This November marks the 78th anniversary of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, on 29 November.

More than ever, we must reaffirm our unwavering support for justice and for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

3,271 km separate Belgium from Palestine. You may be wondering: what can we do from Etterbeek? Just as the fall of South Africa’s horrific apartheid regime was made possible thanks to international mobilisation against that unjust system, today the same can be true for Palestine. When none of us look away anymore and each of us says, “This is unacceptable!” Including here, in Etterbeek. This is why Ecolo-Groen submitted a solidarity motion – made of concrete and direct measures – denouncing the current humanitarian, ecological and legal catastrophe, but the MR-PS-LB majority refused to approve it.

It is our responsibility to mobilise every means of action at all levels, to protect the principles of law and to denounce injustice and those who enable it. In this sense, the struggle of the Palestinian people is not only a local issue but a universal fight for human rights and dignity. It is time for a sovereign, free and independent Palestinian state.