From condemnation to coordinated action — a permanent parliamentary network for Palestinian liberation.
Convened · Brussels · 22 April 2026
Watch the Congress
Revisit the full livestream from the inaugural Global Sumud Parliamentary Congress in Brussels — keynotes, panels, and the signing of the Brussels Declaration.
Moments from the Congress
Key visuals from the inaugural Congress — panels, speakers, the signing of the Brussels Declaration, and the march in solidarity with Palestine.
Opening of the Congress, Brussels — 22 April 2026
The Global Sumud Parliamentary Network
A permanent coordination platform for parliamentarians and political actors.
The Global Sumud Parliamentary Network brings together parliamentarians and political actors to coordinate concrete action across regions. Established at the Brussels Congress, it turns political commitments into sustained pressure through legislative initiatives in support of Palestinian self-determination and decolonisation.
Coordinate joint legislative initiatives across parliaments
Sustain political pressure for Palestinian self-determination and decolonisation
Share advocacy and legislative toolkits between members
Track and support 30-day commitments made by participating actors
Connect parliamentarians with movements, legal experts, and humanitarian networks
The Brussels Declaration
The Brussels Declaration is designed to move governments. It is both an immediate humanitarian necessity and a historic political stand. It gives coalition partners, civil society organisations, and sympathetic legislators a common instrument to carry into their own political arenas. Central to it is a call to establish a UN-verified humanitarian maritime corridor grounded in international law. The declaration is an assertion of:
Right of Access
The right of the Palestinian people to freely access their own waters and territory and to continuously receive basic necessities unimpeded.
Right to Self-Determination
The right of the Palestinian people to lead their own reconstruction and pursuit of justice, free from the imposition of foreign powers.
Rejection of Impunity
The rejection of the precedent that powerful states may act without consequence. A just world for Palestinians is a just world for all of us.
What We Achieved
On 22 April, as the Global Sumud Flotilla sailed toward Gaza, political leaders from over 50 countries gathered in Brussels for the inaugural Global Sumud Parliamentary Congress. More than 300 participants convened to turn condemnation into action. Within 24 hours of its adoption, the Brussels Declaration had drawn over 1,000 signatories.
The Congress established a lasting political network grounded in international law and Palestinian leadership, uniting parliamentarians, government representatives, legal experts, and civil society from around the world. It marked the beginning of a coordinated legislative front: to halt arms transfers, advance multilateral recognition of a humanitarian maritime corridor, and reject the precedent that powerful states may act without consequence.
Why Now
We are living through a dangerous realignment. A minority of powerful states are reasserting the right to take what they want by force. The international order is being tested, and how the world responds to Gaza is determining what is permissible everywhere else.
As the Global Sumud Flotilla sailed toward Gaza, the inaugural Congress convened in Brussels — a coordinated political response to the urgency of the moment and the failures of the international system to act.
By gathering parliamentarians, governments, and civil society in a single forum, the Congress equipped political leaders to:
- Reinforce humanitarian protections in real time
- Accelerate multilateral recognition of a maritime corridor to Gaza
- Introduce and advance legislation in home countries to halt arms transfers to Israel
- Build momentum for Palestinian-led reconstruction and recovery
- Reject the precedent that powerful states may act without consequence
Members
Building an Anti-Colonial Coalition to Isolate Israel and End Complicity
Our network brings together political leaders and institutional actors from every continent across the world, including:
Parliamentarians
Members of national, regional and continental legislatures from across the world.
Government Representatives
Ministers, diplomats, and senior officials from foreign affairs and relevant ministries.
International & Legal Experts
Special rapporteurs, humanitarian leaders, and legal authorities.
Civil Society & Humanitarian Networks
Organizations and professional bodies supporting humanitarian access and reconstruction.
Speakers
The Congress brought together leading political and parliamentary voices, UN experts, and movement leaders from across regions to advance coordinated action for Palestine.
Francesca Albanese
UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 (OHCHR)
Michael Fakhri
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Human Rights Council
Pedro Arrojo-Agudo
UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation
Surya Deva
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development
Dr Mustafa Barghouti
Secretary-General, Palestinian National Initiative
Jeremy Corbyn
Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)
Lynn Boylan
Chair, European Parliament Delegation for Relations with Palestine
Rima Hassan
Member, European Parliament (France)
Manon Aubry
Member, European Parliament (France)
Marc Botenga
Member, European Parliament (Belgium)
Irene Montero
Member, European Parliament (Spain)
Cecilia Strada
Member, European Parliament (Italy)
Mariana Mortágua
Former Member of the Portuguese Parliament; Former Coordinator of the Left Bloc
Saif Abukeshek
Coordinator, Global Sumud Flotilla
Hasan Turan
Chair, Türkiye–Palestine Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Edin Đerlek
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
Ana Miranda Paz
Member, European Parliament (Spain)
Alexis Deswaef
President, International Federation for Human Rights
Ramona Maria Grewan
Senior South African government executive, legal researcher, and Supervisory Board Member of the HAAART Foundation for Global Peace and Justice
Jan Fermon
Lawyer at the Brussels Bar; specialist in criminal, international humanitarian and human rights law; Bureau Member, International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Annalisa Corrado
Member, European Parliament (Italy)
Louisa Hanoune
Secretary-General of the Workers Party (Algeria)
İsmail Emrah Karayel
Member of the Turkish Parliament
Carlo Sommaruga
Chair, Swiss-Palestinian Parliamentary Group (Swiss Federal Assembly)
Benedetta Scuderi
Member, European Parliament (Italy)
Sira Rego
Minister of Youth and Childhood (Spain)
Estrella Galán
Member, European Parliament (Spain)
Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh
Chair, Malaysian Parliamentary Caucus for Palestine
Fabien Rondal
Deputy International Programme Director at Greenpeace
Zeyneb Yıldız
Member of Parliament, Türkiye
Next Steps
The Congress marked a starting point. The next phase focuses on building sustained political coordination and translating commitments into action.
- Build and expand the Global Sumud Parliamentary Network across regions
- Track and support 30-day commitments made by participating actors
- Develop practical legislative and advocacy toolkits
- Strengthen coordination between parliamentarians, movements, and institutions
- Support ongoing and future initiatives, including the flotilla
About the Global Sumud Flotilla
The Global Sumud Flotilla is a civilian-led maritime mission delivering humanitarian support and reconstruction assistance to Gaza while challenging the blockade that has restricted the movement of people, medical supplies, and essential materials.
The flotilla brings together international volunteers, medical and reconstruction teams, and humanitarian supplies intended to assist in the rebuilding of homes, hospitals, and schools.
Where the flotilla challenges the siege at sea, the Global Sumud Network challenges the systems that sustain it on land — together building the political architecture that makes change possible.