MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Palestinian Embassy in Montevideo critical of Uruguayan FM

Palestine has also condemned Uruguay's pro-Israel votes in the United Nations

While Uruguay's Foreign Ministry issued a communiqué condemning the recent terrorist attacks in the Middle East, the Palestinian Embassy in Montevideo accused the administration of President Luis Lacalle Pou of being one-sided.

Uruguay's Foreign Ministry expressed “its strongest condemnation” of the terrorist attacks that took place on Friday in Israel, which caused the death of two Israeli citizens and one Italian. “Uruguay invariably condemns all terrorist acts and also urges the parties to promote instances of dialogue leading to the immediate cessation of hostilities,” the Uruguayan government said in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry added that “it has followed with concern the escalation of violence, coinciding with religious celebrations of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.”

The South American country also “joins the call of the international community in favor of tolerance and peace, to prevent these tensions from continuing to escalate.”

An Italian national was killed and seven people were injured on Friday in an allegedly intentional hit-and-run attack in Tel Aviv. The attacker, an Israeli citizen of Palestinian origin, was a resident of Kafer Qasem, an Arab-majority town. He was gunned down by Israeli security forces. Also on Friday, two Israeli sisters in their 20s were killed and their mother seriously wounded in an attack in the occupied West Bank.

Despite these facts, the Palestinian embassy in Montevideo insisted in a statement that the Uruguayan government was ignoring violence against Palestine and had chosen to silence the “real provocations and incitements of Israel -the occupying power-, and its escalation of violence against the occupied State of Palestine and its people”.

The diplomatic mission argued that Israel had exacerbated religious sensitivities with its aggressions against Palestinian civilians and Muslim worshippers at the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, a holy place and a holy month.

What happened is not simply “an escalation of violence” or “clashes” between two sides. There is no equality of powers: Israel is the occupier and Palestine is the occupied one, according to the Palestinian communiqué which also underlined that after two days of violence against Palestinian civilians, Israel launched military air strikes against the more than two million Palestinians who have been under an illegal blockade in the Gaza Strip for 15 years, the statement remarked.

The document also highlighted that almost a hundred Palestinians have been killed so far this year, including 18 minors, in addition to the destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, and the forced displacement of families.

“We call once again on all peace- and freedom-loving nations of the world, including Uruguay, to view Palestine from the perspective of international law and human rights standards,” the statement further points out.

“As a friend of both countries, Uruguay has the responsibility and the opportunity to play a positive role in contributing to achieving the peace and stability we all long for and deserve,” the document from the Palestinian embassy went on.

Palestine has also condemned Uruguay's pro-Israel votes in the United Nations.