RAMALLAH, Saturday, April 29, 2023 (WAFA) – Dozens of Palestinian civil society organizations vehemently denounced and rejected what they described as “the shameful statement” made by the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in which she celebrated Israel’s so-called “Independence” day by using racist anti-Palestinian tropes and denying Palestinian history and the atrocities of the Nakba.

“These remarks,” they said in a statement published today, “depart from basic political and diplomatic principles and shamelessly favor the occupying power, which engages in persecution, aggression, and state terrorism against the Palestinian people.”

In her speech, Ursula von der Leyen claimed that Israel has made “the desert bloom”, utilizing “a colonial remark that greenwashes Israel’s settler-colonial project, and its displacement of the indigenous Palestinian people and the illegal confiscation of their land,” said the 34 civil society organizations that signed the statement.

“We further reject Ms. von der Leyen’s use of biblical references that align with the Israeli occupier’s narrative that erases the Palestinian people and denies their deep roots in the land and their inalienable right to self-determination. This forms the foundation for the racist so-called ‘Nation-State Law’ that Israel is now using to entrench colonization and complete annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem,” added the statement.

“The horrific events of the Palestinian Nakba which paved the way for the foundation of Israel; including displacing over 750,000 Palestinians and rendering them refugees to this day, razing hundreds of Palestinian villages and towns, and committing dozens of massacres, continue to manifest today through different ways yet with the same overall aim of displacing the indigenous Palestinian people and replacing them with Jewish Israelis across historical Palestine through ethnic cleansing,” it said.

“The European Union’s failure to hold Israel accountable for its countless crimes and human rights violations, including the crime against humanity of apartheid, fuels the culture of impunity that Israel enjoys as it escalates its aggression against the Palestinian people and their land, especially in light of the new extremist Israeli government. Instead of contributing to ending Israeli violations and delivering long-awaited justice to Palestine, the EU continues to reward Israel, the occupying power, with more political, economic, and technological support and cooperation.”

The Palestinian civil society organizations urged the European Union “to assume its responsibility, by refraining from such inflammatory and objectionable language as well as from employing double standards in dealing with issues related to the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, as guaranteed by all relevant international laws and agreements.”

They also called on elected European officials “to muster the courage and political will to pressure Israel into abiding by international law by holding it accountable with concrete and effective measures that align with existing European Union laws and international obligations and principles,” while thanking “our friends and allies across Europe for speaking out and rejecting this overt anti-Palestinian racism” urging them to hold their officials accountable.

“Like all other forms of hate and discrimination, anti-Palestinianism must not be tolerated,” stressed the 34 civil society organizations.

Signatories:

1. The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO)
2. AMAN Coalition
3. AFKAR Organization for Educational and Cultural Development
4. Alnajd Developmental Forum
5. Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society
6. Bisan Center for Research and Development
7. Center for Defense of Liberties & Civil Rights “Hurryyat”
8. Federation of Woman Action Committee
9. Filastiniyat
10. General Union of Cultural Centers
11. Human Rights and Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”
12. Jerusalem Human Rights Consortium (JHRC)
13. Jerusalem Legal Aid Center (JLAC)
14. MA'AN Development Center
15. Mothers School Society
16. MUSAWA- The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession
17. Palestinian Farmers’ Union
18. Palestinian Health Work Committees (HWC)
19. PALTEAM Association for Community Development
20. Teacher Creativity Center
21. The Civil Commission for the Independence of Judiciary and Rule of Law “Istqlal”
22. The Palestinian Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession MUSAWA
23. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Gaza (PCHR)
24. The Palestinian Development Women Studies Association
25. The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy – MIFTAH
26. The Women’s Studies Centre
27. Union of Palestinian women committees (UPWC)
28. Wasel Center for Youth Development
29. Women Media and Development
30. Women’s Affairs Technical Committee
31. Women’s Studies Centre
32. Women's Action Association for Rehabilitation Women & the Child
33. Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)
34. YWCA of Palestine

M.K.