Despite rain, demonstrators rally for Palestinian freedom and denounce European complicity.
By Michael Pröbsting
Vienna — on June 7th In defiance of pouring rain and rising geopolitical tensions, several hundred demonstrators marched through the streets of Vienna on Saturday to protest Israeli military actions in Gaza. The rally, organized by the Arab Palestine Club, drew solidarity from activists, migrant groups, and international leftist organizations.
Leading the march was comrade Mohammed, a prominent figure in Vienna’s Palestinian community, followed by a procession of banners, flags, and chants calling for freedom from occupation and justice for the people of Gaza.
Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), addressed the crowd in a stirring speech that challenged the moral legitimacy of Western governments. “They speak of democracy and human rights, yet continue to arm Israel. Their values are hollow,” he said.
Pröbsting also condemned the long-touted two-state solution as an illusion. “A Palestinian state under Zionist domination or controlled by Abbas’ servile Palestinian Authority is not freedom,” he said. Instead, he advocated for a single, secular state between the river and the sea — a “workers and fellahin republic” where Jews and Palestinians can live as equals.
He lauded recent acts of defiance from dockworkers in France and Italy who refused to load or unload Israeli weapons shipments, calling them “examples of real solidarity.” In contrast, he condemned the inaction of Arab regimes who, he said, “are actively sabotaging the resistance movement.”
“There will be no peace without weapons for the oppressed,” he concluded, urging internationalist action to support Palestinian resistance.
The protest — filled with flags, slogans, and soaked but undeterred participants — was documented in photos and videos published by the Austrian RCIT at www.thecommunists.net, calling for continued resistance across Europe and beyond.
