By Yossi Lempkowicz
A European top official rejected the use of the term ”genocide” by a journalist to describe Israel’s action in Gaza.
European Commission for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, was speaking last Wednesday to reporters during an informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Wicklow, Ireland. Asked for EU comments about the use of the term ”genocide” by Ireland, Suica responded : ‘’We are not speaking at this moment about genocide. The definition of genocide is well known. We are speaking about how to help Gaza, and how to help people who live in Gaza.’’
She recalled her visit to Israel earlier this year when she met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar. ‘’What I did during my last visit to Israel, they somehow approved, because we need Israel’s approval for two projects in Gaza about waste management and water management. These projects are just about to start due to good cooperation with Israel.’’
‘’We cannot cut all the relations with Israel, we don’t want to cut the channels from communication with Israel because without that we cannot do it,’’ Suica added.
Suica, who participated in the informal foreign affairs meeting, as an additional sign of the European Commission’s push to play a bigger role in EU foreign policy, said they discussed the situation in the Middle East in general, but also the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza Palestine, and Israel. ‘’The situation, as you know, will not change a lot before elections,’’ in a reference to the elections on October 27 in Israel. ‘’The elections will also be held in Palestine in November. So we have two elections there, and I don’t think the situation will change a lot. The only thing which we condemned, all of us here, is settlements in E-1. This is not acceptable, and nobody can approve what’s going on, if we still believe in a two-state solution. And we do,’’ she added.
Last year, European Commission Vice-President Teresa Ribera, who is a Spanish Socialist, used the term genocide in a speech in Paris.
“The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe’s failure to act and speak with one voice even as protest spread across European cities and 14 United Nations Security Council members called for an immediate ceasefire,” the Spanish Socialist said.
A Commission spokeswoman later emphasized that Ribera was not speaking on behalf of the EU’s executive arm when making the remarks.
”The European Commission under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen is not classifying Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip as a genocide,” she said.