TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Protestors met outside the legislature on Tuesday (April 16) to denounce Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) meeting with members of a Taiwan-Israel Parliamentary friendship group.
Protestors said that Tsai had ignored the humanitarian situation in Gaza when meeting with the Israeli delegation on Monday, and labeled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a genocide. They also called on Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱), Taiwan’s head of the parliamentary friendship group, to cut ties until an immediate ceasefire is called, and criticized Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) for his cooperation.
Palestinian scholar Hazem Almassry spoke at the protest. He described losing his mother to an Israeli airstrike, and the destruction of his family home.
“Today I call on you, the people of Taiwan and the international community, to recognize our suffering and to stand with us in our quest for justice and peace,” Almassry said. He said the values of human rights and justice are universal: “They are worth standing for, and worth fighting for.”
The protest marks the second time Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator for Pingtung Chung has been called on to address the situation in Gaza, after a protest was held outside Liberty Square in late March. Taiwan News asked Chung's office for a response to the protest, and was provided with the following statement:
"Taiwan joins peace-loving democratic partners around the world in condemning the war, calling on all parties concerned to exercise self-restraint, and to resolve differences through communication to avoid the continued expansion of the crisis."
Protestors gathered the day after Tsai met with the Taiwan-Israel Parliamentary friendship group's chair Boaz Toporovsky at the Presidential Office. During the meeting Tsai described “very close” ties between Taiwan and Israel, and said Taiwanese businesses hope for further cooperation with Israeli partners.
Toporovsky said Taiwan and Israel are both “small but strong democracies in a harsh environment.” He also said he would “always remember Taiwan's support after the attack on Israel on October 7.”
The surprise attack launched by Palestinian group Hamas claimed the lives of over 1,200 people in Israel. Israel’s response to the attack has killed over 30,000 people in Gaza, many of them children and civilians and caused a "humanitarian disaster" according to United Nations agencies.
In February, UNICEF said that more than 13,000 children were among those killed, and that the malnutrition rate among children had reached nearly a third. Gaza has experienced a shortage of food, water, and medicine, while aid into the territory has been blocked by Israeli forces.
The protest was organized by groups including Parallel Government and the Left Party, alongside anti-war and labor activist groups. It was organized as part of an international effort to mount “economic blockades” against the war in Gaza that involved nearly 60 protests in different countries.
