On Sunday, 17th May 2026, the city of Brussels witnessed a massive popular march commemorating the seventy-eighth anniversary of the Nakba, with broad participation from Belgian civil society organisations, labor unions, and human rights and environmental associations. The march evolved into both a political and popular platform aimed at exerting pressure on European governments to adopt more stringent positions regarding the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The march, which began at Brussels-North Station and proceeded toward the city center, was organised by the Belgian National Coalition for Palestine, a coalition comprising dozens of institutions and organizations active in the fields of human rights, trade union work, and international solidarity. This coalition is regarded as one of the most prominent coordinating frameworks in Belgium supporting Palestinian rights, having succeeded in recent months in mobilizing broad segments of Belgian society to demand an end to the war and the accountability of those responsible for Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians.
Among the organizations involved in organizing the event were the Belgian-Palestinian Association and CNCD-11.11.11, alongside the two major Belgian trade unions, FGTB and CSC, in addition to environmental and human rights organizations that argued that the continuation of political and economic cooperation between the European Union and Israel is inconsistent with the principles that the European Union publicly upholds regarding respect for international law and human rights.
