By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

“It’s not war, it’s a genocide. A genocide that is only possible due to the necessary complicity of the United States and Europe.”

Irene Montero, a Spanish Member of the EU Parliament, has accused the Commission of supporting genocide in Gaza, saying it “is only possible due to the necessary complicity of the United States and Europe.”

“When a criminal state murders more than 41,000 people, half of them children; when it destroys 60% of homes, 85% of schools, 65% of roads; when it forcibly displaces over 80% of the population; and when it blocks the entry of water, energy, medicine, and humanitarian aid. It is not a war; it’s genocide,” Montero told the EU parliament this week.

Comisario, dejen de ayudar a Israel a cometer un genocidio pic.twitter.com/4yWH9xaHSA

— Irene Montero (@IreneMontero) September 17, 2024

“A genocide that is only possible due to the necessary complicity of the United States and Europe, which provide economic, military, and political support to the perpetrators of the genocide,” she added.

Forced Keffiyah Removal

Montero pointed out what she called “the hypocrisy of the political and moral decay that it signifies for you to be more troubled by my colleague Rima (Hassan) wearing a keffiyah in the plenary session than by the fact that we are complicit in a genocide against the Palestinian people.”

Palestinian Member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan, was earlier requested to remove her keffiyah, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, before delivering a speech in the parliamentary session.

“Please take your scarf off, we are a house of speech here and not of symbols”

Palestinian Member of the European Parliament, Rima Hassan, was forced to take off her Kuffyia ahead of delivering a speech in a parliamentary session. pic.twitter.com/dZms4hDG4u

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 19, 2024

“Please take your scarf off, we are a house of speech here and not of symbols,” she was reportedly told, as heard in video footage shared on X.

Arms Embargo

Montero, a representative of the Spanish left-wing Unidas Podemos party, went on to question why an arms embargo has not been enforced against Israel.

“Why don’t they practice a total arms embargo? Why do they maintain the economic and commercial agreement with the genocidaires?” she asked, adding “Why do they finance apartheid? Why isn’t Netanyahu being brought to justice?”

Montero also asked, “Why is the Palestinian solidarity movement being criminalized?”

She then highlighted the list of names of the more than 41,000 people killed in the besieged enclave that the Gaza Health Ministry released.

Holding the list in her hands, she said “This is only half, ladies and gentlemen, only half. People up to 29 years old who have been murdered.”

“Until when, Commissioner? Stop helping Israel commit this genocide,” Montero stressed.

‘Double Standards’

In July, Montero called on her government to suspend diplomatic relations with Israel following the assassination of Hezbollah leader, Fouad Shukr, in Beirut.

“Israel attacks Beirut. They are not going to stop and Europe must stop being complicit in these genocides,” Montero said on X. “The breaking of relations and the arms embargo are urgent.”

‘Enough with Double Standards’ – Spanish Leader Slams West’s Hypocrisy in Gaza

Spanish officials have consistently spoken out against Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.

In July, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged the West to reject “double standards” regarding the war on Gaza.

“If we are telling our people that we are supporting Ukraine because we are defending international law, this is the same as what we have to do towards Gaza,” he reportedly said at NATO’s 75th anniversary summit in Washington.

The Spanish leader also said there should be a “consistent political position” in which “we don’t have double standards.”

“We need to create the conditions for an immediate and urgent ceasefire,” he said.

On May 28, Spain became the 140th country to recognize the State of Palestine. Norway and Ireland followed, as well as Slovenia.

In June, Spain also announced it would join South Africa’s case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza.

(The Palestine Chronicle)