The Diplomat
The Palestinian ambassador to Spain, Husni Abdel Wahed, yesterday accused the president of the European Commission, Úrsula von der Leyen, of having given “a blank check” to Israel to “perpetrate genocide” in Gaza.
Husni Abdel Wahed participated at the Casa Arab headquarters, in Madrid, in a debate under the title: ‘Palestine: Peace and security to guarantee human rights and compliance with the 2030 Agenda’, which was organized by the Ministry of Social Rights , and which was also attended by the head of the Department, Pablo Bustinduy.
The debate, presented by the director of Casa Arabe, Irene Lozano, and moderated by Paula Fernández-Wulff, general director of Agenda 2030, also included Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, South African ambassador to Spain and Raquel Martí, executive director of the Spanish Committee of UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestine Refugees.
The Palestinian representative asked the EU to commit “to its own values and principles” and apply them in Gaza, where he believes that the Twenty-Seven have to be “held accountable.” Husni Abdel Wahed called on the EU to “fight fascism in Europe ” but he “celebrated” it in Israel, and accused the Europeans of applying “selective humanism.”
The ambassador was very critical of the EU countries, whom he reproached for raising universal human rights “for themselves,” but not for others. “Don’t say they are universal rights. Say they are rights for white people with blue eyes,” he said.
In any case, Wahed was very pessimistic regarding the entire EU, from whom he said he did not expect much, because Von der Leyen “gave a blank check” to Israel “to perpetrate genocide” and Victor Orbán’s Hungary. He assumes the presidency of the Union this month.
For his part, Minister Pablo Bustinduy assured that Spain is giving content to the recognition of the Palestinian State with actions such as joining the lawsuit for genocide before the International Court of Justice. And he insisted that what is happening in Palestine “is a genocide”, and then added: “International law, defending the 2030 Agenda and defending the right of the Palestinian people to live in peace are one and the same cause.”
In the debate, the South African ambassador thanked Spain for joining the Government’s lawsuit against Israel for genocide in the International Court of Justice. For her part, Raquel Martí stated that, with the withdrawal of funds from several countries to UNRWA, the agency will be “forced to close” in August if more contributions do not arrive.
