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Granada, Spain – Sometimes there were as little as two or three people, sometimes up to 15.
But no matter the number, every morning in recent weeks in Jose Hurtado primary school in the Spanish city of Granada, a group of parents deposited their children, then gathered silently near two simple but powerful pro-Gaza banners: “more dead children” and “against genocide”.
“It started when a fictitious video, which takes place in 2040, went through one of the WhatsApp groups of our parents, on how Gaza was destroyed. And children ask their mothers and dads – what did you do during the genocide? ” Mar Domech, who helped the demonstration to start, told Al Jazeera.
“I started to say – instead of rethinking the video, let’s do something, a bit like during the pandemic when people applauded hospital staff at eight o’clock every night. And the 15 minutes before the children go to class and the 15 minutes just after the majority of us, the best parents.”
The protest format is simple. A single line of demonstrators will hold two long banners next to a school wall and make sure they stay away from passers -by.
There is no cry or singing. But that it is clearly school parents who care about children who die – many ages of their own children – give their additional support resonance. The location of the school in a lively arterial street near the center of Grenada means that their message reaches a large audience.
“We don’t want to disturb anyone, but we just can’t look away when so many children are dying and the laws must be maintained,” said Domech. “What is happening there is a genocide and we have to oppose this, who are the victims.”
After almost two years of Israeli attacks, Gaza is home to the largest number of children amputated per capita. More than 17,000 children were killed. And according to Save The Children, more than 930,000 children in Gaza – almost all children – are now at risk of famine.
The inability of more parents to join their solidarity show is treated with a mixture of disappointment, resilience and not a little ironic humor with the dozen “accustomed”, as when they remember when two plainclothes police arrived to check their identifiers.
He arrived that day, only two pro-Palestine parents were present, but, as Domech remembers laughing, thanks to the establishment of the police, it seemed that the number of demonstrators had suddenly doubled.
In any case, the limited response did nothing to stop their determination to continue.
A woman spends most of the time and stops to take a photo to send to a friend in Palestine. Certain cars or tourists on buses going to the medieval monument of Alhambra nearby and agitate in support.
Moral increases are significant, as well as the conviction of parents that even this relatively tiny but tenacious protest is important.
“I could no longer endure the idea of simply being a spectator, what is happening is so atrocious,” said Alberto, another parent. “I’m just happy that we have continued too. I study for public service exams, so the time I can be flexible, but it’s not easy to do it every day when you work or have other commitments. However, I think it is fundamental that we do it. ”
Spain is part of a small group of European nations which has always shown support for Palestine and criticized Israeli actions in Gaza and occupied West Bank.
With Ireland and Norway, in May 2024, Spain recognized the Palestinian state and last year, it expressed its support for the case of the genocide against Israel submitted by South Africa before the International Court of Justice.
After the publication of the last European Union report on Gaza this week, Spain was the only country which directly called for the suspension of the EU-Israel agreement, while its Minister of Foreign Affairs demanded an arms embargo.
As for the protest of the doors of the Granada school, “we will continue once the term restart in September,” said Domech, “although this would not be necessary”.
