Students call Metsola 'enabler of genocide' during MCAST visit

Updated at 3:33pm with Metsola spokesperson's comment

A group of MCAST students welcomed European Parliament president Roberta Metsola with posters on Friday morning calling her an enabler of genocide.

Metsola was visiting the MCAST campus on Friday morning when a group of students confronted her with papers that read enabler of genocide. 

The students, who gathered on the campus grounds, voiced their outrage at her presence, asking whether she is comfortable with enabling the “death of more than 8,000 Palestinians.”

On October 13, Metsola visited Israel with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to express solidarity with the victims of the Hamas terrorist attacks and meet with Israeli leadership.

She also held a solemn ceremony outside the European Parliament to remember the victims killed in Hamas's attack on Israel, in which she said that Hamas does not represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.

Metsola has been facing criticism from certain quarters for her initial positions on internal affairs, mostly the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

Locally, the Prime Minister suggested that Roberta Metsola used her power to satisfy her "personal ego" instead of seeking peace in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

Foreign Minister Ian Borg also criticised her for visiting Israel and giving the impression the EU is indifferent to the human catastrophe in Gaza.

Metsola's spokesperson sends reaction 

Later on Friday, a spokesperson for Metsola stated that the European Parliament, "is always and will always be on the side of humanity, liberty and real peace."

The spokesperson said that the EP has worked tirelessly in order to ensure humanitarian corridors in Gaza, as well as respect for international and humanitarian law. Efforts to free hostages taken by Hamas and deliver aid to Gaza were also highlighted.

"We have called for a pause in hostilities precisely to allow this to happen, to push for de-escalation in the region and lasting stability in the region," the spokesperson said.

Metsola's spokesperson stated that the EP has always made a distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian people, saying that the former does not represent the latter.

"The President of the European Parliament will continue to meet with and speak to representatives of all nations in the region to push these aims forward," the spokesperson concluded.