Ahmet Gencturk
19 April 2024•Update: 19 April 2024
ATHENS
The European Union is not on the right side of history over the Israel-Hamas war, former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Thursday.
"I am afraid that as far as the Middle East is concerned, Europe is not on the right side of history. As we speak here every day about human rights and international law in Europe, some kilometers away from EU borders, in Palestine, 33,000 people have been killed by Israeli military operations, 70% of whom were innocent citizens, civilians as announced by (EU foreign policy chief Josep) Borrell,” Tsipras during his speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, according to Greece’s public broadcaster ERT.
"We must, in a very clear way, declare that there must be an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza with the return of all hostages. We must position ourselves clearly against any military escalation. We must support the end of the (Israeli) occupation and the resumption of credible talks on a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, which will live in peace with Israel,” he stressed.
Against this background, Tsipras urged the EU to take a stand and promote a peace conference, which should include the prospect of recognizing a Palestinian state on the basis of the two-state solution and international guarantees for Israel.
Turning to Germany’s banning of former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis from speaking at events in the country due to his pro-Palestinian views, including a video message he was scheduled to deliver at the Palestine Congress in Berlin, he said: “If we continue to play with words or obstruct free dialogue about the Middle East, as we saw in Germany, then we send a message to the whole world that European values are nothing more than hypocrisy.”
“By doing so, we are sending the message that our rules are based on double standards. The truth is one. Either European values apply everywhere, or they are not values," Tsipras added.
On April 12, Berlin police broke up the Palestine Congress less than two hours after the event kicked off.
Police later cut the power and cancelled the final two days of the conference, which was supposed to take a critical look at German military support for Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the organizers.
Germany also banned former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis from entering Germany and barred him from engaging in any political activity there as well as from participation in such exchanges on Zoom.
In Germany, which is a staunch ally of Israel, the war in Gaza has stirred growing opposition as the Palestinian death toll nears 34,000.
