On Sunday (17 December), Just Home, a network of activists and citizens in Pattani, marched from the Pattani City Hall to the Pattani Central Mosque to call for a ceasefire in Palestine.

The march passing through Pattani city (Photo by Asmadi Beheng)

Activist Anas Pongprasert said that the network wanted to march to show their support for Palestinians and to raise awareness about the humanitarian situation in Palestine. He also said they wanted to show the international community that they do not share the Thai government’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict and that they find such violence unacceptable.

“The activity this time is a march to show our fellow human beings and the international community that we don’t agree with the genocide that is happening in Palestine,” he said.

Anas said that the network also wants to show support for the families of Thai workers affected by the conflict and is running a donation drive for them, and emphasized that what is happening in Palestine is a humanitarian crisis.

“If we don’t feel any empathy regarding what happened, I think that we may have to reconsider our feelings and our humanity,” he said.

Anas called on the Thai government to explain why it has been sending Thai workers into a conflict zone and to reconsider sending workers to countries where there is a threat to their lives.

A group of medical professionals as part of the Just Home network also read out a statement at the end of the march to call for a humanitarian ceasefire. The statement said that the attacks on hospitals, ambulances, and medical professionals violate international norms, and called for a permanent end to attacks on civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, and to the destruction of public roads and attacks on hospitals, schools, and refugee camps. The network also called for humanitarian aid to be allowed to enter Gaza.