[Press Release: Act X Palestine]
With figures such as Youmna El Sayed and Wael Al Dahdouh, who were Al Jazeera’s voices in Gaza, paying an enormous personal price; lawyer Raji Sourani, who is leading the effort to bring the Israeli government before the International Criminal Court; and Iranian activist Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini.
The UNSILENCE FORUM brings to Barcelona a historic debate on the future of democracy and peace in the Euro-Mediterranean region
From 14 to 16 November, journalists, human rights defenders and activists from more than 20 countries will gather in Barcelona to think, create and resist in the face of genocides, occupations and rearmament, with first-hand testimonies from Gaza and across the region, in a unique gathering framed within the global call ACTxPALESTINE.
- Driven by the main organizations of Palestine, together with a broad network of organizations from Europe and the Mediterranean.
- Barcelona will serve as the main hub for the key mobilizations, which will include the Unsilence Forum (a historic gathering of leading Palestinian organizations), a match between the Catalonia and Palestine national teams, and a major concert at the Palau Sant Jordi on January 29.
Barcelona, 21 October 2025. From 14 to 16 November, Barcelona will become the epicentre of the debate on peace, human rights and democracy in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The CCOO headquarters (Via Laietana, 16) will host the UNSILENCE FORUM, an international gathering that will bring together activists, journalists and organisations from more than twenty countries to discuss the rise of authoritarianism, militarisation and the shrinking civic space.
The event is organised by an international committee made up of leading civil society organisations working to defend human rights, peace and solidarity in the Euro-Mediterranean region: EuroMed Rights, International Peace Bureau (IPB), International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), European Civic Forum (ECF), Transnational Institute (TNI), Solidar, ARCI, Un Ponte Per (UPP), Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), Western Sahara is Not for Sale (WSNS), Stop ReArm Europe, transform! europe and The Institute NOVACT of Nonviolence (Novact).
Over three days, the forum will combine political dialogue, artistic creation and collective reflection, with panels, conferences, recitals and thematic sessions. The programme has been jointly designed with the member organisations, many of which will contribute their voices and experiences as speakers.
Think, Create and Resist
The UNSILENCE FORUM is a call to reclaim collective voice, responsibility and power in the face of genocide, environmental crisis and global impunity. It takes place at a moment of profound geopolitical and historical significance: the genocide in Gaza has exposed the collapse of international law; Western Sahara marks fifty years of occupation; it is also the 25th anniversary of UN Resolution 1325 and the 30th of the Barcelona Process, while far-right extremism and militarisation are spreading across Europe and the Mediterranean.
In this context of memory and urgency, the forum positions itself as a meeting point for the silenced and persecuted civil society throughout the region. Its goal: to break the silence that enables violence and to build new narratives of cooperation and solidarity between peoples.
The programme proposes alternatives to militarism and fear-based narratives, placing feminist, ecological and decolonial perspectives at the centre as responses to war and systemic injustice.
Voices for Justice and Freedom
The programme will open with a recital of Palestinian poetry. It will be followed by the conference “Journalists as military targets: the price of documenting Israel’s crimes in the genocide in Gaza”, featuring Youmna El Sayed, journalist from Gaza and Al Jazeera English correspondent exiled in Cairo after months reporting under bombardment, and Wael Al Dahdouh, head of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau and a symbol of resistance after losing several members of his family.
International participants include Shawan Jabarin (Director of Al-Haq), Layla Hzaineh (Progressive International), Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini (ICAN), Laëtitia Sédou (Transnational Institute) and Raffaella Bolini (ARCI Italy).
Other speakers include Asria Taleb Mohamed, Raouf Farrah, Monia Ben Jemia and others working in contexts of war, censorship or occupation.
Culture and Resistance
Beyond the debates, the UNSILENCE FORUM will also feature artistic and cultural activities. The panel “Arts and Culture against Genocide and Occupation”, with the participation of the Palestinian Performing Arts Network and Bill Shipsey (Art for Human Rights), will highlight the transformative role of culture in times of war.
Within a Global Call
The UNSILENCE FORUM is part of the international campaign ACTxPALESTINE, a global call led by major Palestinian organisations and a wide Euro-Mediterranean network, to ensure humanitarian aid, the reconstruction of Gaza and an end to impunity for genocide and occupation.
The campaign will include other mobilisation moments in Barcelona: the campaign launch event (15 November) with Palestinian representatives, international figures and live music; the Catalonia–Palestine football match (18 November); and the XPALESTINE concert-manifesto at Palau Sant Jordi (29 January), placing Palestine at the centre of the global justice movement.