Gazans mark international Solidarity Day with Palestine

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian factions organized a rally on Tuesday outside the office of the UN’s cultural and educational agency (UNESCO) in the Gaza Strip to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

"We stand here today to remind the international community of their responsibilities regarding the Palestinian people," Talal Abu Zarifa, a member of the Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine, told rally participants.

He went on to urge the international community to support the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

"The UN must pressure Israel to halt its violations against the Palestinian people and provide them with international protection," he said.

Abu Zarifa said representatives of the Palestinian factions that took part in Tuesday’s rally had delivered a memo to the UNESCO office in which they reiterated their commitment to longstanding Palestinian demands for self-determination.

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is marked each year on Nov. 29 to coincide with the anniversary of UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Adopted in 1947, Resolution 181 called for the partition of Mandatory Palestine into Jewish and Arab states following the expiry of Britain’s Palestine Mandate.