Palestinians condemn comments by head of European Commission

Palestinians have described remarks about Israel by the head of the European Commission as inappropriate, false and discriminatory.

It follows a congratulatory video message by Ursula von der Leyen on Israel's Independence Day. In it she praised Israel, among others, for having made the desert bloom.

It has sparked an unusual diplomatic spat between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the European Union (EU), its main donor.

A spokesperson for the commission told the BBC, "The EU is unpleasantly surprised by the inappropriate statement of the Palestinian foreign ministry accusing the president of the European Commission of racism."

The PA singled out Ms von der Leyen's suggestion that Israel had cultivated barren land, calling it an anti-Palestinian racist trope.

The phrase making the desert bloom is commonly used by Israel and its backers to describe what they view as the country's success in developing the land since the founding of Israel in 1948.

However, Palestinians argue that it erases their history and suggests that the land was previously uninhabited or untended.

The PA is calling for an apology from the European Commission president.

"Seventy-five years ago, a dream was realized with Israel's Independence Day," Ms von der Leyen said in her message. "After the greatest tragedy in human history, the Jewish people could finally build a home in the promised land."

"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."

The PA statement describes the message, addressed to Israel's President Isaac Herzog, as propagandist discourse and part of an ongoing dispossession of Palestinians.

The PA claims it "dehumanizes and erases the Palestinian people and falsifies their rich history and civilization".

In addition, it says that the European statement whitewashes Israel's occupation of lands Palestinians claim for their hoped-for future state and denies what they call the Nakba (Arabic for catastrophe) of 1948.

Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their homes in the war that followed the Israel's creation.

Palestinians mark Nakba Day on May 15 according to the Gregorian calendar, while the timing of Israel's Independence Day follows the Hebrew calendar.

Some Palestinians on social media have also criticized or mocked the European leader for her comments about shared values with Israel.

The European Commission is part of the executive of the European Union.

The spokesman for the commission stressed the EU's diplomatic ties with the PA, pointing out that Ms von der Leyen met PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh when she visited the region in June 2022.

They said a meeting to co-ordinate the delivery of international aid to the Palestinians was due to take place in Brussels next week.

"The EU is actively looking for solutions for the difficult situation of the Palestinian people," they added.

Iran calls on Muslims to halt Israeli atrocities

In a statement issued on the occasion of Nakba Day, which commemorates the illegal Zionist regime of Israel, Iran's Foreign Ministry noted that the only option to ensure Palestinian rights is for governments and Muslim nations to embrace resistance against the occupiers.

Any compromise with the Islamic Ummah's sworn foes, according to Foreign Ministry, supports the apartheid Zionist regime's heinous deeds and human rights violations.

The full text of the statement is as follows:

“May 14, 1948, the Nakba Day, is reminiscent of occupation, massacre and displacement of the true owners of the Palestinian land at the hands of Zionist occupiers and usurpers, and the onset of a trend of systematic violations of the Palestinian nation’s natural and basic rights.

Since that date, the criminal Zionists — backed by some Western powers — have usurped the holy land of Palestine with the forceful use of weapons and through carnage and plunder, laying the foundation for lasting insecurity and instability in the West Asia region, a situation that continues to this day.

The anniversary of the Nakba Day once again reminds the world’s governments and nations of their human and legal duty of defending the Palestinian people’s rights and puts on display the failure of international institutions and organizations to resolve one of the longest-running humanitarian and political crises in the world.

This comes especially at a time when the usurper Zionist regime has started a new round of desecrations of Palestine’s religious sites, Islamic sanctities and al-Quds as well as slaughter of the defenseless Palestinian people, which has, of course, been met with a crushing response from Palestine’s popular resistance and Intifada, with God’s grace.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes addressing the issue of Palestine, as the foremost and principal issue of the Muslim world, and considers attempts by global Zionism to drive the issue into oblivion is doomed to failure.

As shown by history, any compromise with the sworn enemies of the Islamic Ummah encourages the apartheid Zionist government’s inhumane acts and violations of human rights. Muslim nations and leaders should know that the only way to realize the Palestinian people’s rights is maintaining Islamic unity and convergence and the world’s freedom-seeking governments and Muslim nations’ support for the resistance against occupiers and bullying powers.

The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that just and lasting peace will not be established in West Asia unless through the resolution of the fundamental issues in this crisis, including ending the organized occupation of Palestine, securing a return of refugees, deciding Palestine’s future through a referendum participated by all of its true owners, and finally, the formation of a unified Palestinian government, with Quds al-Sharif as its capital.

While expressing its full solidarity with the Palestinian people’s ideal cause and paying tribute to the martyrs and fighters on the path to freedom and the Muslims’ First Qibla, the Islamic Republic of Iran invites all governments and international bodies to shoulder their human and legal duties vis-à-vis the oppressed Palestinian people and prevent a continuation of occupation and crimes by the regime occupying al-Quds and the spread of this regime’s racist policies in occupied Palestine.”