“The recognition of the State of Palestine is a duty of the Portuguese State under international law, international agreements, and is ultimately a matter of justice. A position that acknowledges two states, but where only one exists, Israel, and the State of Palestine is not recognized, is unsustainable,” stated Mariana Mortágua in remarks to Lusa news agency.
The sole deputy of BE criticized the government’s delay in this recognition, asserting that for two years, a “genocide of the Palestinian people” has been witnessed.
“The government is late in this recognition that must be made immediately. This is the position that the Bloco de Esquerda has been advocating, and it is what we will convey to the government, to the prime minister, when consulted on this matter,” she pointed out.
For Mortágua, beyond recognizing Palestine, “it is necessary to apply sanctions to Israel,” accusing it of committing “war crimes,” “starving children,” and executing “an ethnic cleansing process of the Palestinian people, that is, a genocide.”
The BE leader believes the government is now making this recognition “because the winds are changing, because more Western countries are recognizing the State of Palestine.”
“Now it happens because the extent of genocide and deaths has become unbearable, undeniable, and this causes several countries to change their position,” she argued.
Mariana Mortágua lamented that Portugal determines “its principles on human rights and international law not according to what it advocates,” but “according to the winds of change and according to what other governments think.”
“The Portuguese government holds the most cowardly and hypocritical position imaginable, where in theory it defends international law and human rights, while in practice it is complicit with the genocide by not recognizing it, nor recognizing the state being attacked. And the government maintains this argument,” she condemned.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced today that he will consult the President of the Republic and political parties with parliamentary representation to “consider recognizing the Palestinian state” at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
“The government decided to promote consultation with His Excellency, the President of the Republic, and the Political Parties with representation in the Assembly of the Republic, to consider recognizing the Palestinian state, in a procedure that may be concluded during the High-Level week of the 80th United Nations General Assembly, to be held in New York next September,” announced the prime minister in a statement.
