Sirens resound in Spanish Civil War town to show solidarity with Gaza

In a display of solidarity, over 3,000 individuals gathered in Guernica, Spain, to form a human mosaic representing the Palestinian flag.

This event, held on December 8, 2023, took place in a town historically scarred by the bombings of the Spanish Civil War in 1937.

The Guernica-Palestine Citizens' Initiative, comprising trade unions, political parties, and social organizations, organized this powerful demonstration in the town's Pasialeku Market Place.

The initiative aimed to draw a parallel between the atrocities of the Guernica bombing and the ongoing conflict in Gaza, underscoring the pain of Gaza's victims under Israeli attacks.

The event echoed the sentiment that the international community must not accept a new Guernica and called for global awareness of what they termed as genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. Sirens wailed during the event as a poignant reminder of past and present sufferings.

Artists and poets from both Palestine and the Basque region contributed with readings and songs, further intensifying the emotional impact of the occasion. Guernica's historical significance, heightened by Pablo Picasso's iconic painting "Guernica," created in response to the 1937 bombing, lent a profound backdrop to the event.

The painting itself, a stark representation of the horrors of war, is currently housed in the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.