Portuguese Communist Party invites FPLP to Avante! Festival

The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) has invited representatives from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (FPLP) to participate in the Avante! Festival. The FPLP is classified as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Israel.

Founded in 1967, the Marxist-Leninist group has a history of armed struggle, including aircraft hijackings in the 1960s and 1970s and the 2001 assassination of an Israeli minister. More recently, the group was linked to the October 7, 2023, attacks against Israel. This is not the first time the FPLP has been represented at the festival; previous leaders participated in debates in 2013, 2015, and 2021.

The PCP has rejected the terrorist classification of the FPLP, stating that its international relations are not governed by criteria imposed by entities it deems to lack credibility.