European Left Delegation to Palestine and Israel

European Left IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL: PEACE IS POSSIBLE!

A delegation of the European Left Party, with president and lead candidate for the 2024 European Elections, Walter Baier, and Inger Johansen, Anna Camposampiero and Piera Muccigrosso travelled last weekend to Israel and Palestine to get a better understanding of the situation and to show solidarity with those forces who are in favour of peace in the region.

The delegation met with Palestinian and Israeli forces and actors, among others, with Rawhi Fattouh from the Palestinian National Authority, with Standing Together, a grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel in pursuit of peace, equality, and social and climate justice, Adam Bouloukos, the Director of UNRWA Affairs West Bank, and MPs Ofer Cassif and Aida Touma-Sliman of Hadash, the left political coalition in Israel, in the Knesset in Jerusalem. In these meetings the EL delegation could sense how dramatic the situation is, not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank, and what are the next steps for achieving a lasting peace in the region. 

“We have seen that the situation in Palestine is dramatic from a humanitarian point of view, not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank”, declared Walter Baier. “We at the European Left reiterate our position: ceasefire, release of hostages, and an immediate end to the massacres aiming at establishing a two-state solution along the lines of the UN resolutions – securing the rights of the Palestinian people to their own state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and with the right of return for the Palestinian refugees. The recognition of the Palestinian state by some European countries is a first step, but there is an urgent need for action from the European Union, with the establishment of sanctions towards the Israeli government to stop the massacres in Gaza”