Date:5/5/2023
In an Open Letter to the European Union
187 Civil and Human Rights Networks and Organizations Urge the European Union o Hold the Occupation and Apartheid State Accountable for Its Crimes against the Palestinian People
We, the undersigned organizations, would like to express our deep concern and regret over the racist colonial rhetoric delivered by Her Excellency Mrs. Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the Commission of the European Union, in celebration of what has been called the 75th anniversary of the so-called “independence of the occupation and apartheid state”, which means in fact Seventy-five years since the usurpation and occupation of Palestine by the Zionist entity. In her speech, Ms. Der Leyen considered the “occupation state” the oasis of democracy in the Middle East, without mentioning the racist and illegal Zionist occupation of the Palestinian territories and the continuous violations of the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental, and human rights of the Palestinians, and its disregard for all international covenants and norms. In her speech, she also referred to the common values between the European Union and Israel, although Israel is known for applying the apartheid regime against the Palestinians, which was recognized and condemned by the Amnesty International report in this regard, published last year, in addition to the organization’s report. Human Rights Watch, along with many other international reports issued by a large number of international institutions and fact-finding committees mandated by the United Nations to investigate the crimes of the occupation against Palestinians, both men and women.
