Kasselakis: Other EU states should recognize Palestine
Other European Union countries should follow Spain, Ireland and Norway’s example in recognizing Palestinian statehood, main opposition SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis has said.
In an interview on state broadcaster ERT, Kasselakis, who recently returned from a two-day trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank, said the EU needed “to stand up and send a clear message” to Israel.
“The Netanyahu government, after years of provoking not only the Palestinian people but the Western world with its settlements in the West Bank, now has not only proceeded with a brutal massacre in Gaza but is also trampling on agreements in the West Bank,” he said.
He questioned how the complete destruction of “75% of Gaza” can combat terrorism, describing Israel’s operations in the strip as “ethnic cleansing , if not genocide.”
Questioned why he did not meet with Israeli officials during his Jerusalem visit, Kasselakis said he “could currently not meet a government that knowingly causes tens of thousands of civilian deaths.”
“I think it is time for Europe to stand up to history, to say yes to its ideals and to humanity and not to interests … This is the right side of history and Greece must be on the right side of history, as it was under Andreas Papandreou with the relations cultivated with [Palestine Liberation Organization leader] Yasser Arafat.”
