Watch: Robert Abela Accuses Metsola Of ‘Ignoring Israel-Palestine History’
Prime Minister Robert Abela ripped into European Parliament President Roberta Metsola over her initial stance on the Israel-Gaza war, despite its similarity to that adopted by Malta’s own Foreign Minister Ian Borg.
Asked by Lovin Malta at a press conference whether Malta considers Hamas to be a terrorist group, Abela refused to give a straight answer, only stating he “distinguishes Hamas from the people of Palestine”.
He then proceeded to lash out at Metsola, accusing her of taking on an imbalanced approach to the conflict and ignoring the history between Israel and Palestine.
“Taking an imbalanced approach is the worst mistake you can make in sensitive situations like this. Even more seriously, perhaps she ignored the history between Israel and Palestine,” he said.
View this post on Instagram
Abela said he was one of the few EU leaders who, at a recent European Council meeting, called for an immediate ceasefire.
“I’m one of the few EU leaders publicly calling for a ceasefire. Others, for their own reasons, are scared to use that word but I will once again appeal for peace,” he said.
“I disagree with humanitarian pauses and I agree with a humanitarian pause. I made this position clear at the EU Council, even though the final text spoke about pauses in the plural. Pauses imply that the war will stop today but start again tomorrow, then stop again and start again.”
“I will appeal for peace and I believe peace can be found. It’s a longstanding geopolitical situation and I understand foreign influences that exist within Hamas, but I keep stressing that the end to the war must be peace.”
“We cannot see more innocent children getting killed, more babies losing their lives, and we cannot carry out non-conciliatory actions that we ironically try to reverse a few days later.”
Ironically, Metsola’s stance to the war has been extremely similar to that taken by Ian Borg, whose initial reaction to the Hamas attacks on 7th October was to label it a “terror attack” and say that Israel “has a right to defend itself in line with international law”.
Borg also said Malta abstained from a UN Security Council vote on a resolution calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza because it did not have a “strong condemnation of Hamas”.
Metsola’s initial stance was also to deride Hamas a terrorist organisation and say that they “do not represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people”.
However, Metsola was then criticised – including by the Maltese government – for visiting the site of the attacks in Israel with EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
What do you think of Robert Abela’s statement?
READ NEXT: 'March For Palestine' Demonstration To Be Staged This Weekend In Front Of Parliament
