A silent protest to show support for the people of Palestine and to encourage a boycott of a number of companies which have shown support for Israel will take place in Limassol on Saturday.
A representative of United for Palestine, the group which has organised the protest, told the Cyprus Mail that the group’s aims, in addition to encouraging the Cypriot public to engage in a boycott of the companies, is to demand a ceasefire.
Protesters will gather behind the Anexartisias street branch of international clothing chain H&M at 2pm.
From there, she said there will be a “silent and peaceful march”, during which demonstrators will wear duct tape across their mouths to symbolise their silence.
She added, “we will stay silent as we do not want to provoke people or scare them, we are there purely to raise awareness.”
The march will begin at H&M, before making its way southwards down Anexartisias street, passing branches of coffee chain Starbucks and clothing chain Zara.
In front of each shop, the demonstrators will stop and pause for a minute’s silence, before continuing silently on their way down the street.
The representative added that the protesters will “stand in the middle of the road, as we do not want to intimidate shoppers, but we don’t care at all about the cars.”
On Sunday, United for Palestine will stage another protest in Nicosia. It will begin at 2pm at the capital’s central Eleftheria Square.
In their statement about Sunday’s protest, they had said “there is no sanctuary in Gaza! Despite this, the recent UN Security Council vote witnessed the United States’ persistent involvement in this devastating conflict by opposing a ceasefire.”
They had added that sustained worldwide protests in solidarity with the Palestinian people were beginning to yield results, with sportswear manufacturer Puma ending their collaboration with the Israeli national football team.
“Benjamin Netanyahu has voiced serious apprehensions regarding the impact of global demonstrations on the war efforts, alongside Puma’s decision to withdraw its sponsorship from the Israeli football association,” they said.
Over 1,000 people had attended the most recent protest at Nicosia’s Eleftheria Square on December 3.
Palestinian Ambassador in Nicosia Abdullah Attari was one of the attendees, and he thanked those present for their attendance.
“Only the people can stop the Israeli plans to displace the Palestinians from their homeland for a second, maybe a third time,” he said, adding, “we want you with us at these critical times for our homeland and our people.”