Deputy Secretary General of the Tunisian General Labor Union, Samir Cheffi, said the following: “We do not want to be friends with those who call Palestinians ‘terrorists’ and Israelis victims”
In Tunisia, pro-Palestinian demonstrations organized as a protest against the Israeli massacre perpetrated daily in the Gaza Strip continue and continue.
On Saturday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in the center of the capital Tunis, in response to the call of national organizations, such as the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) and the Tunisian Forum of Economic and Social Rights (FTDES).
– Large and small against the Israeli massacre in Palestine
Members of civil society, activists, trade unionists, politicians, and journalists joined the crowd which left from Avenue Mohamed V, passing through Avenue du Ghana and Avenue de Paris, to finally reunite, under a blazing sun, on the main artery of the center of Tunis.
Anti-Israeli slogans were chanted by adults and children. “Resistance, Resistance! No reconciliation or negotiation”, “Zionist cowards, stop the aggression”, and “No to the displacement of the Palestinians!”, they, among others, kept shouting.
Men and women, high school students, and elderly people brandished the flags of Tunisia and Palestine while standing on the famous stairs of the Municipal Theater, facing the cameras and journalists’ cameras. Even the children perched on their parents’ shoulders waved small flags, spontaneously imitating the demonstrators involved.
The screams were loudest when demonstrators set fire to the Israeli flag. A flagship and symbolic moment applauded by all those present who await with great hope and impatience the liberation of the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.
The demonstrators subsequently approached the French embassy in Tunis protected by barricades under high security protection. They still chanted slogans such as “The people want the expulsion of the ambassador”, denouncing the pro-Israeli policy of Paris, accusing it of complicity in the ongoing aggression against the Gazans, trapped in a blockade that has lasted for more than 16 years and a “collective punishment” operation launched a few days ago.
Indeed, the Israeli army bombed the al-Ahli Baptist hospital in Gaza on Tuesday evening, killing at least 800 people, an action widely condemned by the international community, before the occupation army took another action at Saint-Porphyry Church on Friday, what the Supreme Presidential Committee for the Follow-up of Ecclesiastical Affairs in Palestine described as a “war crime”. A mosque was also bombed, causing civilian deaths and injuries.
– “The demand for the dismissal of ambassadors from hostile countries is legitimate”
The deputy secretary general of the Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT), Sami Cheffi, declared Saturday, speaking to Anadolu, that the request for the dismissal of ambassadors is a legitimate demand and that in key moments in history, friend and enemy cannot be equal, emphasizing that the position of the United States, as well as that of the European Union in general and of France and Germany in particular, are very hostile.
“These countries provoked not only the emotions of all Tunisians and all Arabs but also those of “the French and free Westerners” who denounced positions supporting genocide and deliberate murder,” he added, recalling that France was repressing demonstrators in the streets of Paris and other cities.
And to continue: “The United States has openly demonstrated hostilities towards Tunisia and expressed its direct involvement in “the battle”. It is not me who claims this, it is Joe Biden, the American president, who affirmed, during his meeting with the Israeli general staff, promising security to the Zionist entity, sending it an aircraft carrier and establishing a permanent air bridge with it.
– “We must continue to break the silence by all means”
The deputy general secretary of the Trade Union Center said that the effectiveness of the anti-Zionist demonstrations was not questionable.
“The silence in the face of this crime and this international colonizing and Zionist coalition that attacks the Palestinian people must be broken. We must resist by all means, whether through volunteerism, financial aid or pressure made about the Arab regime. Otherwise, shouting slogans with heart is the least we can do,” he explained.
For Cheffi, it is essential to get directly involved in resisting during this “battle” which does not only concern Palestine or the Gaza Strip but which is taking place above all in the context of a series of repeated Zionist attacks. .
According to him, it is a question of existence and not of borders.
– A unified Arab position must be formulated
“A position at the level of Arab diplomacies – which must be activated – must be taken. It will be necessary to convene a real Arab Summit and not a simple protocol meeting leading to the publication of vain communiqués that add nothing to the Resistance. All Arab countries, whose position is respectable, must move to exert pressure to establish a greater movement in support of Palestine,” he noted.
Cheffi said that it was unthinkable today to act as if nothing had happened because all Arab countries will find themselves in a situation of insecurity and will subsequently depend on the United States and the West which will make them sing again. We must resist, because victory is near, according to him.
– What about foreign partners and unions?
The UGTT denounces the position of the International Union of Trade Unions which goes against the universal values and principles stipulated in all conventions on economic, civil, social, and cultural rights, by releasing a press release in which she put the executioner and his victim on the same footing.
“We do not want to be friends with those who call Palestinians ‘terrorists’ and who consider Israelis to be victims because this is how they intend to legitimize Zionist crimes,” he said.
Noting that the Central Trade Union was closely monitoring the position of Arab and international unions, Cheffi declared the following: “We have sent a letter to the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) in France to express our support following the repression which it suffered at the hands of the French police. Five of its members were apprehended.”
At the Arab level, Cheffi affirmed having called on the Arab Union of Trade Unions to meet as soon as possible, in order to assess the situation and think about the official position to present on the subject of the Palestinian question, expressing the hope that some unions retract and change their position.
At dawn on October 7, the resistance movement Hamas and other Palestinian factions launched Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” from Gaza, in response to “relentless attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against the people Palestinian, its property and its holy sites, in particular the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied part of East Jerusalem.
For its part, the Israeli army launched Operation “Iron Swords” and continues to carry out intensive raids on several districts of the Gaza Strip, where more than two million Palestinians live who are suffering from the deterioration of their conditions. of life due to an Israeli blockade imposed since 2006.
During Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, between 200 and 250 Israelis, including senior Israeli army officers, were captured. Palestinian resistance factions want to exchange them with more than 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, including children and women, incarcerated in the jails of the Jewish state.