MEP Grzegorz Braun calls for Israel to be declared a terrorist state

Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – MEP Grzegorz Braun expressed during a debate in the European Parliament called for Israel to be declared a terrorist state.

Polish far-right MEP Grzegorz Braun said that to solve the dispute in Gaza, Israel must be declared a terrorist state. She expressed this during a debate in the European Parliament, marking the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks. Following an address by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, which emphasised the war, death and devastation in Gaza, MEPs attended a minute’s silence in memory of all the innocent lives lost.

Should Israel be declared a terrorist state by the EU?

Grzegorz Braun: “Israel should be declared and presumed a terrorist state. Mr Netanyahu and his ‘butchers’ are the largest and most criminal terrorist organisation.”

“To those of you who seem to support the state that has been occupying Palestine for so long: Can’t you hear the words of Israeli ministers, ambassadors, rabbis referring to Palestinians as animals, as non-humans?” he questioned rhetorically, comparing Israeli’s oratory to that of SS officers and the Third Reich commanders.

Last year, as a Polish MP, he dipped Hanukkah candles in the corridor of the Polish parliament with a fire extinguisher to oppose the celebration of Jewish holidays in the Polish parliament, wounding a participant in the celebration who tried to stop him.

What did Roberta Metsola say about the 7 October attacks?

Recalling the 7 October episode by Hamas on Israeli concertgoers, Metsola expressed nothing could ever explain the indiscriminate mass murder, rape, kidnapping and suffering that took place a year ago. Since then, too few have been able to return to their loved ones – “this House will continue to do what we can to bring them all home,” she stated.

Is Israel’s government comparable to terrorist organizations like Hamas?

“We, in this chamber, did not lose our close ones. We are just observers. So if we find it difficult to understand some political decision by one or another side, how difficult it must be for those living in the Middle East and suffering from the consequences of this war,” EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said.

“We must give peace a chance, give hope to peace. (…) We have to try to find peace within hate. We have to go from mutual denial to mutual recognition,” he said, adding that an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and the search for political solutions to the Lebanese question were needed to end the conflict. He did, however, oppose Braun’s characterisation of Netanyahu and the entire Israeli state machine as “butchers”. “Israel is a democratic state, and it cannot be compared to what Hamas and Hezbollah do,” he stated.