Nationalist candidates endorse Palestine solidarity statement

Updated 6 June

Three Nationalist candidates have endorsed a Palestinian solidarity statement promoted by progressive NGOs in Malta calling on MEPs to work towards sanctioning action against Israel’s policies of occupation and assassination of the Palestinian people and the children of Gaza.

The statement, originally conspicuous by the absence of endorsements from Nationalist candidates after spokesperson Yana Mintoff Bland said Roberta Metsola, Peter Agius, Lee Bugeja Bartolo, Norma Camilleri and David Casa had not responded to the statement, has now been endorsed by Camilleri, Casa and Bugeja Bartolo.

The statement was endorsed by 13 Maltese NGOs and over 370 individuals.

The statement calls upon candidates for the European Parliamentary elections to state their position on Israel’s systematic genocide of the Palestinian people of Gaza and its continued expansion of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“Israel’s forced displacement and starvation of civilians, daily massacres, assaults and brutal policies of collective punishment continue, despite growing condemnation in the United Nations, in the Global South and in civil society around the world. This forms part of a long-term policy of apartheid and progressive colonisation of Palestinian land and people which has been going on for 76 years,” the statement reads.

The MEPs that endorsed the ‘Justice for Palestine’ statement were Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba and PL candidates Claudette Abela Baldacchino, Clint Azzopardi Flores and Dnaiel Attard; independent candidates Conrad Borg Manche and Arnold Cassola, and all ADPD candidates Ralph Cassar, Rachelle Deguara, Sandra Gauci and Mina Jack Tolu, as well as the three Nationalist candidates.

“We condemn the murder of innocent Israelis by Hamas fighters on 7 October and we express our solidarity with the victims and their families. Nevertheless, the disproportionate response of the Israeli Government has already taken a far greater number of innocent Palestinian lives in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and continues to put many more lives in imminent danger,” the statement reads.

 The statement specifically asked the candidates if they would honour Malta’s constitutional commitment to advance peace and social progress; to work to illegalise all sales of lethal weapons to Israel; whether they agree with sanctioning action against Israeli policies of occupation and repression; to suspend trade with Israeli entities that do not oppose the Israeli occupations; to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel ends its violations of UN resolutions and international law; and to support a regional call for European sanctions against Israeli military leaders and ministers.

Endorsing NGOs included Il-Kollettiv, Inzjamed, Moviment Graffitti, Young Progressive Beings, YMCA and Zminijietna apart from other NGOs.

“As concerned citizens we are grateful for Malta’s diplomatic work to bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and justice for Palestinians. Yet, this goal is not yet in sight,” Mintoff Bland said.

“The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories goes from bad to worse everyday as women and children are murdered, famine deepens and mass graves are found. The current death toll in Gaza has risen to over 36,000 people, of whom over 15,000 are children and 8,700 are women.”

The percentage that children and women make of the total number of people killed by the Israeli military in Gaza at nearly 70% is higher than in any previous war in the twentieth and twenty first centuries.