Iran Press/ Middle East: The Palestinian Authority (PA) called Ursula von der Leyen’s message “inappropriate, false, and discriminatory”.
The PA said her remark about Israel making “the desert bloom”, in particular, is an “anti-Palestinian racist trope” and the day instead marks 75 years of Tel Aviv’s “colonial project”.
Von der Leyen lauded the so-called Israel’s democracy and its ties to Europe.
“Today, we also celebrate 75 years of friendship between Israel and Europe,” the German politician said. “We have more in common than geography would suggest: our shared culture, our values, and hundreds of thousands of dual European-Israeli citizens have created a deep connection between us.”
The PA called the speech “propagandist” and part of the continued erasure of the Nakba, or “catastrophe”, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948.
The Zionist regime has long denied the forced expulsions of Palestinians during that time, in which the newly formed Zionist army and militias expelled at least 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land and captured 78 percent of Palestine.
The Palestinian Authority urged von der Leyen to issue an apology to Palestinians.
Condemnation of the EU official’s statement was also rife on social media.
“Spare us the colonial rhetoric!” tweeted Jehad Abusalim, executive director of The Jerusalem Fund, based in Washington, DC.
Another user called von der Leyen’s treatment of Tel Aviv hypocritical when compared with Russia.
A writer based in Palestine said von der Leyen’s statement disregards Palestinian suffering.
A Palestinian professor in Canada echoed the PA’s remark that the comment about the Zionist regime making “the desert bloom” is “racist”.
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