Speech of Chrystalla Antoniou, member of the Political Bureau of AKEL, at the event of AKEL for the International Day of Solidarity with the Struggle of the Palestinian People
Sunday 29th November 2015, Larnaca
Dear friends and comrades,
On behalf of the Central Committee of AKEL I welcome all those present today at the event held on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Struggle of the Palestinian People. We welcome the Palestinians living in Cyprus who are here with us today. We salute the heroic Palestinian people, who for decades has become synonymous with resistance, struggle and dignity.
Dear friends,
Unfortunately, international public opinion is accustomed to television pictures showing the daily bloodshed, murders and oppression which the by Palestinians are experiencing from the State of Israel. However, the brutality of the Israeli military machine each time is daily provoking shocks.
Who can forget that one and a half years ago in the summer of 2014, Israel attacked Gaza, killing nearly 2.500 Palestinians, 70% of whom were civilians, including 550 children?
Who is not shocked by the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians of the West Bank, such as the case of the 18-month infant who was burned alive in his crib by arson committed by extremist settlers?
Who doesn’t feel rage at the magnitude of the permanent crime being committed against the Palestinians when considering that almost 7 million Palestinians are refugees are scattered throughout the world? That 1 in 3 refugees in the world are Palestinian and that almost half the Palestinian refugees have no citizenship?
How much anger and bitterness are the people of Palestine entitled to feel when at this precise moment more than 6,500 Palestinians are in the dungeons of Israeli prisons, among them 150 children under 18 years old? In the last 15 years over 10,000 adolescents have been arrested by the Israelis. Since 1967, more than 850,000 Palestinians have been and remain prisoners of the Israeli military authorities. This is equivalent to 1/4 of the Palestinian population.
Dear friends,
All of these developments just demonstrate the ferocity of the systematic repression and state terrorism exercised by Israel against the Palestinians. They also demonstrate to the glory of the Palestinian people, who despite what they are suffering do not abandon the just cause of its struggle; it doesn’t give up the cause of creating an independent Palestinian state; it doesn’t lower the banner of its country, which has become a universal symbol of relentless struggle.
Dear friends,
Lately the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories is dramatic and explosive. Violence and bloodshed seem to become uncontrollable. However one and the other side are not responsible for this situation, as all those who want to equate the aggressor with the victim claim. The responsibility lies with Israel, the occupying power who for decades is occupying and colonizing the land of the Palestinians, who is killing and oppressing the Palestinians, who is trying to crush the heroic Palestinian resistance.
The violence and unrest centered on Jerusalem have escalated recently due to the deliberate policy of the Israeli authorities to reverse the status quo in the area of the al-Aqsa mosque, in particular with regard to occupied East Jerusalem and to impose its judaification. We proclaim from this podium too in every direction that the attempt by the Israeli authorities to turn the Palestinian problem into a religious confrontation will not succeed. At this point we must also denounce the Israeli leadership’s attempt to exploit the victims of extremist fundamentalist terrorism in order to incite Islamophobia in European societies and by doing so to target Palestinians. This effort is utterly vile and unacceptable. The leadership of Israel should know that its unacceptable actions of the holy places of the Muslims are a provocation for all humanity, not just for the Palestinians.
The continuous attempt of the Israelis to alter the character, legal status and population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is of course also a provocation. Their goal is to create such fait accompli so as to render the two-state solution unfeasible, and not to leave land for the establishment of a Palestinian state. That is why since 1967 Israel has been rapidly colonizing the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as a result of which today Israeli settlers have surpassed 450,000 in the West Bank and another 200,000 settlers in East Jerusalem. This expansion of the colonization, as we all realize, is not done peacefully but with daily violent operations in order to expel the Palestinians from their land and to demolish their homes. The arrests, imprisonments, injuries and killings of Palestinians by Israeli security forces are routine.
However dear friends, the State of Israel could not commit all that it has been committing for decades, had it not had the political, economic and military support from the US, had it not had the tolerance of the European Union tolerance and a large section of the international community. It is with American guns and dollars that massacres are being committed against Palestinians. It is estimated that since the establishment of the State of Israel to date it has received military assistance from the US exceeding $ 230 billion. At the same time, the US and EU who are seeking illegal nuclear weapons programs in every corner of the planet, pretending not to see the awesome nuclear arsenal at Israel’s disposal, without the relevant international treaties permitting it to do so and without caring that it has established a mortal danger for all the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean. The US and European hypocrisy on the issue of Palestine is truly blatant and outrageous.
For all these reasons, dear friends, the people of Palestine are in need of constant solidarity from all humanity, from all progressive people around the world. We must not let the Palestinian problem to be forgotten, unsolved in the drawers of the mighty of the world. The people of Cyprus who knows firsthand what war, foreign occupation, colonization and imperialist barbarism means must continue to stand in solidarity with the people and the Palestinian struggle. Besides, the just solution of the Palestinian issue will perhaps be the decisive factor for peace to prevail and security in general in the much troubled region of the Middle East.
We, as AKEL, with all our strength, have been demonstrating for decades our solidarity and support for struggling Palestine. We are – and will continue to be – a force exerting pressure on the government of Cyprus so that it adheres to positions of principles and solidarity with Palestine. AKEL calls on everyone who is here today, but also every Cypriot man and woman, to unite our voices with the Palestinian people and demand:
- The termination of the occupation and colonization of the Palestinian territories. The establishment of an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian State on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
- An end to the inhumane blockade of Gaza.
- The bringing down of the illegal Wall of Shame erected by Israel in the West Bank
- The immediate release of all Palestinian political prisoners
- The European Union should stop supporting the unacceptable policy of equal distancing on the Palestinian issue, suspend the EU Association Agreement with Israel, given that Israel is brutally violating Article 2 of the Agreement in relation to the respect for human rights.
Finally, dear friends, AKEL would like on this occasion of this event to convey a militant message of solidarity with the peace-loving forces in Israel, such as the Communist Party of the country and other progressive movements which are confronting the chauvinist attacks and dare to raise the Palestinian flag, demand peace and justice for the Palestinian people.
Dear friends,
Last September, the UN approved the flying of the Palestinian flag at its headquarters in New York. This development was further proof that the insistence on International Law and the demand for the implementation of UN Resolutions brings results. At the same time however the flying of the Palestinian flag is a powerful symbolic development. The struggle of the Palestinians and all of those who we align themselves with will continue until the flag will be lifted up in the independent Palestinian state and be waving proudly the air of freedom and dignity.
Long live the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people!
Long live the friendship of Cyprus and the Palestinian people!
