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Greek Opposition Parties Unite Against Government's Pro-Israeli Stance

In a significant political development, Greece's major opposition parties have issued a joint statement criticizing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis for their government's position on the Israel-Gaza conflict. The statement, signed on May 25, represents a unified front from parties across the left of the political spectrum.

The joint declaration was signed by the parliamentary group leaders of SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left), Sokratis Famellos; the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumbas; New Left, Alexis Charitsis; and Sailing for Freedom, Zoe Konstantopoulou. This initiative, which originated from a proposal by the Communist Party, marks a rare moment of consensus among Greece's often fragmented opposition.

The statement directly challenges the government's approach to the conflict, stating that "the Greek government has no political, legal, or moral right to justify and ultimately support these crimes." It calls for immediate action, emphasizing Greece's responsibility as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council to take "active, urgent, and clear initiatives to stop the genocide against the Palestinian people."

The opposition parties paint a stark picture of the situation in Gaza, asserting that "a real genocide is taking place before humanity's eyes, resulting in more than 61,000 deaths, 119,000 injuries, and hundreds of thousands of displaced people, the vast majority being civilians." They further note that the International Criminal Court, of which Greece is a founding member, has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for international crimes.

The joint statement outlines specific demands for the Greek government, including:

"To immediately stop all military operations of the state of Israel in Gaza and establish a ceasefire."

"To open all humanitarian corridors immediately so that aid, water, food, medicine, medical supplies, and doctors can be sent immediately to address the famine for Palestinians."

"For the Greek government to explicitly and unequivocally condemn the crimes of the state of Israel against the Palestinian people."

Perhaps most significantly, the opposition calls for Greece to "terminate military cooperation with the state of Israel" and to implement the unanimous 2015 parliamentary decision to recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The statement also requests that the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, be invited to address the Greek Parliament to inform the Greek people about the situation in Gaza and the Palestinian territories.

This unified stance from the opposition comes at a time when the Mitsotakis government has maintained close diplomatic and military ties with Israel despite growing international criticism of Israel's military operations in Gaza. The opposition's move reflects broader divisions within Greek society regarding the conflict and could pressure the government to reconsider aspects of its regional foreign policy.

Photo: TVXS

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