Tunis — A number of civil society groups and political parties held a rally on Monday evening in front of the Municipal Theatre in the capital, at the invitation of the Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in rejection of the Zionist aggression on Gaza.
The demonstrators denounced the ongoing genocidal crimes against the Palestinian people and the complicity of some countries, which they called hegemonic countries, and chanted slogans calling for more resistance and the lifting of the siege on Gaza.
The coordinator of the Samoud Coalition, Houcem Hammi, stressed the importance of such protests to denounce the crimes of the Zionist entity and its recent massacres, which have led to unprecedented levels of famine and genocide.
He said that Tunisia's principled stance on the Palestinian cause is positive, but it is necessary to turn slogans into real steps, such as the issuance of the law criminalising normalisation, after refining it to make it compatible with the Tunisian reality.
He pointed out that the ratification and passing of the law will make it a means of pressure among the means that the authority can offer to support the Palestinian cause, in addition to networking with countries that support the resistance.
Hassine Hammami, a representative of the Tunisian Forward Movement, said that this protest represents support for the Palestinian cause, especially in light of the tragic situation the Palestinians are living in, including starvation, killings and the demolition of homes and hospitals.
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Zouhair Hamdi, General Secretary of the Popular Current, said that the movement has called for the continuation of such demonstrations, describing the Arab street as "almost dead" in comparison to the Western street, where millions of people demonstrate daily in the streets against their regimes, which are partners in aggression.
He stressed that only the Arab masses can stop the aggression and the war in Palestine by taking to the streets and squares to put pressure on their regimes not to be partners of the aggression.
He pointed out that it is in Tunisia's interest not to circumvent the draft law that criminalises normalisation and that the issue must be resolved either through a special text or a chapter in the penal code that is in line with the spirit of the Tunisian constitution, which considers Zionism a racist movement and the Palestinian cause a duty for the whole nation.
For his part, Heykel Mekki, on behalf of the Echaab movement, said that today's position is the least that can be offered to the Palestinian people in the face of the genocide perpetrated by the usurping Zionist entity and its gangs.
"Today it is clear that normalisation must be criminalised in Tunisia. The parliament must assume its responsibility and pass a law that criminalises normalisation in Tunisia".
Protesters marched to the old medina, after the rally held in front of the Tunis Municipal Theatre.
