The silence of the world is deafening!
Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories), Volker Türk (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), Josep Borrell (EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy), and many, many others were all too quick to attack and condemn Israel for its reaction to the barbaric Hamas onslaught of 7 October 2023.
Spain, Ireland, and many other countries saw it necessary to reward such terror by recognising the ‘State of Palestine’, while continuing to voice fierce criticism against Israel.
South Africa and Slovenia rushed to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, calling for the condemnation of Israel and for arrest warrants to be issued against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant at the International Criminal Court.
A few days ago, six Israeli hostages, after surviving eleven months of brutal ordeal in Hamas tunnels, were summarily shot in the head by these barbaric terrorists. There is nothing that can explain or excuse such a crime. The Jewish world and European Jewish communities have waited months for a massive uproar from the civilised world, for clear and unequivocal condemnation of these Palestinian perpetrators, and for a call on Hamas for the immediate and unconditional release of the remaining hostages. This should be the only moral basis for an immediate end to the fighting in Gaza and throughout the Middle East. Only this course of action can end the current nightmare. But tragically, what we see and hear is merely silence, a lack of empathy, and indifference when it comes to Jewish victims.
As President of the European Jewish Congress, I can only say to Albanese, Türk, Borrell, and all the others who have remained silent:
Shame on you!
To the families of the victims and to all those who are anguishing over bringing their loved ones home from the tunnels of Gaza, all our thoughts and hearts are with you. We feel your sorrow and pain, and we pray that this nightmare will end as soon as possible.
EJC President Dr Ariel Muzicant
