MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Palestine diplomats in South America launch appeal to international community

Israel should also be judged for the killing of Palestinian civilians, Rasheed stressed

Palestine's Ambassadors to Uruguay and Chile agreed Monday that the ongoing war unleashed by Hamas' attacks against Israel was something “horrible” to witness and therefore something needed to be done “to stop” it.

“It is horrible to see images of anyone being killed, I wonder if you have seen what is happening in Gaza,” Palestinian ambassador to Uruguay Nadia Rasheed was quoted as saying by Montevideo's Teledoce. “What has happened in the last few days is impossible to understand without the context of a 56-year occupation,” she added.

Meanwhile, Vera Baboun told TVN in Santiago that “a solution to stop this war” needs to be found because “the situation is very dramatic, we are talking about civilians in Gaza who have been under attack consecutively for many years, starting in 2008.” She also urged the international community to “find and reach a solution to stop this war.”

Rasheed argued that the gruesome picture of Israeli civilian casualties needed to be judged within its historical context. “What has happened in the last few days is impossible to understand without the context of a 56-year occupation, a 16-year blockade of 2,200,000 people, 1,000,000 of them children. A situation where there is oppression of an entire nation,” Rasheed said.

“The only way we see this is as an occupation that has lasted this long. If we are going to blame anyone for the reasons why we are in this situation and for the tragic events that have happened to civilians, the Israeli government is to blame,” she added.

“I think it's horrible to see images of anyone being wounded or killed, of course, it's terrible. I wonder if you've seen the images of what's happening in Gaza today. I wonder if that's the right response, violence,” she also said.

Rasheed also called on the international community to judge each one for their actions and if Hamas is responsible, they should be judged, but also Israel for the killing of Palestinian civilians. “If Hamas did something wrong let them be held accountable, if other Palestinians did something wrong let them be held accountable and if Israel did something wrong let them be held accountable,” she underlined.

“Bring in missions to corroborate the facts in Palestine and Israel. We have asked for this many times,” she insisted.

Baboun also explained that “what happened has ramifications for everyone. So for me, as a person, as an ambassador, as part of the authority, my position is seriously directed to ask ourselves why, in order to find a solution to this tragedy for everybody.”

“In the Gaza Strip you have the biggest blockade, where people live on that small piece of land, densely populated with two million inhabitants, hopefully, they can move,” she added.

The diplomat also said there were two factors behind Hamas' surprise attacks. First, “the Israeli government, its leaders and ministers moving forward as if the Palestinians do not exist,” she argued. And, second, there is a “series of resolutions that are not implemented,” which “is leading to a reaction.”

“Because in the end, what we seek, what we want, is what you want, what Mr. [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu wants. But no peace can exist, without a real peace for the Palestinians.”

“Just as Israel is concerned about their nation and they are concerned about them, so are we. A state of war means that there are no limits. A state of war in Gaza means there are no limits. Many civilians are there: children, women... And we hope that the international community can find and reach a solution to stop this war,” Baboun concluded.