Protesters take down their tent at Austurvöllur
Here is the tent in front of the Parliament and Dómkirkjan church at Austurvöllur. mbl.is/Árni Sæberg
A group of Palestinians who have protested at Austurvöllur in front of Parliament in the past month intends to take down the protest tent that is located there today.
The group will still continue its protests on Austurvöllur, as stated in the announcement.
“Our collective responsibility doesn’t just go away with this tent; it extends to our continued quest for justice, peace and human dignity and the protection of vulnerable human lives in Palestine. We feel we have no choice but to move forward,” the announcement reads.
It also states that the camp at Austurvöllur was built in accordance with the law and official permission. The police and city officials have said that the protests were successful and without any problems.
At the same time, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice refused to meet the group. Instead, the ministers tried to dehumanize them, showed little respect for their protests and talked about it in TV interviews and on social media that their presence was not requested in Iceland.
Minister of Justice, Guðrún Hafsteinsdóttir, intends to respond to a meeting request with the protesters. mbl.is/Kristinn Magnússon
Minister of Justice Gudrún Hafsteinsdóttir told mbl.is yesterday that she intends to respond to the protesters’ request to meet with her. However, a formal request had been made before last weekend and since then there have been events of great scale, a volcanic eruption and a natural disaster which have delayed the meeting request.
“Despite our regret that the city officials cannot find the courage to support our fight in the midst of genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, we want to respect our promises of peaceful protests where respect is high. That’s why we’re taking down the tent today, as we’ve been asked to do,” the announcement also states.
