The Head of the Political and Foreign Relations Department of Hamas, Basem Naim, yesterday slammed remarks made by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Israel’s 75th Independence Day, saying her words were marred with “political hypocrisy” and showed stark “ignorance of history”.
In a congratulatory video message on Wednesday, von der Leyen praised Israel for having “made the desert bloom”.
“Seventy-five years ago, a dream was realised with Israel’s Independence Day. After the greatest tragedy in human history, the Jewish people could finally build a home in the Promised Land,” she said. “Today, we celebrate 75 years of vibrant democracy in the heart of the Middle East, 75 years of dynamism, ingenuity and groundbreaking innovations. You have literally made the desert bloom, as I could see during my visit to the Negev last year,” she said.
In a statement, Naim said Israel’s establishment 75 years ago was not a “dream that came true”, but rather a “nightmare” that is still hanging over the heads of the Palestinian people. They are the ones still paying the price for “this sin committed by the West.”
“Those who persecuted and tortured the Jews for centuries were Europeans, and these Jews did not find a safe place except in our Arab and Islamic countries. Do not atone for your sins at the expense of our people and their future,” he said.
Naim said von der Leyen was republishing lies promoted by Israeli leaders. “Palestine was never a desert until it blossomed during the era of Israeli barbarism and brutality, but rather was for thousands of years the cradle of civilisations and a meeting point of coexistence and a path of science and progress from east to west.”
He stressed that the Palestinians expect European leaders to remind the world of the tragedy which the Palestinian people have been living through for 75 years, and demand Israeli war criminals be brought to justice for their crimes against Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority has also condemned von der Leyen’s message, describing it as “inappropriate, false and discriminatory” as well as an “anti-Palestinian racist trope”.
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Montather Rassoul