Pro-Palestinian activists once again cause damage to the Portuguese company building railways in Jerusalem

identify themselves as “group of people in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance”, belonging to the collective “Liberation of Palestine”. And they attacked the headquarters of the Portuguese company Steconfer, located in Santarém, causing, in the early hours of Saturday, they guarantee in a statement, “thousands of euros in damage”.

According to pro-Palestine activists, in addition to breaking glass in the building and vehicles, they painted on the facade “Steconfer profits from genocide”.

The group demands the end of the company’s contract with the Israeli Government, a contract signed in 2021 and which concerns the creation of the Jerusalem railwaywith the aim of expanding the existing line and building a new line.

Contacted by Expresso, the authorities claim to have received a complaint.

The “Liberation of Palestine” collective denounces that the company “is also committed to build new maintenance stations and also extend another one in the illegal settlement of Giv’at Shapira” in East Jerusalem.

And he concludes: “This project aims to link West Jerusalem with illegal settlements in the West Bank and actively contributes to the normalization of the Zionist colonial state and for the continued annexation of Palestinian lands.”

This is the second consecutive attack on Steconfer’s headquarters in just a few months. In November, the collective vandalized those facilities, which in addition to using red paint they covered with “photographs of the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip”.

The same group was responsible, in recent months, for similar attacks on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lisbon City Council and a Zara store in Portothe latter in protest against an advertising campaign by the brand.

Vowing to “continue to resist” companies that profit from the “colonial occupation” of Palestine, the collective denounces that “there are more than 930 Portuguese companies exporting to Israel” and calls for people to “stop consenting to the genocide taking place in Palestine”.

To Expresso, Steconfer management says it “strongly condemns” “acts of vandalism” which he was the target of and which resulted in “massive material damage”.

Regarding the motivations for these acts, Steconfer “reiterates its commitment to building a fairer world” and ensures that in the 10 countries (including Israel) where it operates, “promotes labor relations guided by principles of integrity and respect”always with the aim of “improving the living conditions” of communities.

Authorities are investigating this case furtherin addition to the recent ones, in which the “Liberation of Palestine” collective is involved.

Activists may incur crime of qualified damage, which carries a prison sentence of up to five years. Article 213 of the Penal Code states that “whoever destroys, in whole or in part, damages, defaces or renders unusable someone else’s property of high value” is guilty of this type of crime.