Second Nakba? No Pasaran, Direct recognition of a Palestinian State by Greece

During this year’s 77th anniversary of the Nakba, i.e. the Destruction of Palestine in 1948, the seventeen-month war in the Gaza Strip continues, threatening to ignite the entire Middle East.

Then, after more than a year of violence, the newly formed Israel occupied 78% of historical Palestine. The remaining 22%, the West Bank with Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, were occupied by Israel 19 years later and remain under Israeli military occupation. In a military campaign that began in late 1947 and culminated in the 1948 war, approximately 13,000 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, 530 Palestinian villages were destroyed, and 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their ancestral homes and became refugees by Jewish military forces. More than 5,000 Jewish fighters and civilians were also killed. The 750,000 displaced Palestinians were replaced by 750,000 Jewish settlers who occupied Palestinian land.

Today, the threat of a new Nakba has been officially formulated through the Gaza Riviera Plan by US President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who is wanted for genocide by the International Criminal Court. The latter even threatens a total invasion and conquest of the Gaza Strip, at least superficially, and not underground Gaza. The threat of a second Nakba, which would mean the expulsion of the Palestinians from their ancient homes in Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, is imminent. It is this prospect that may trigger the active military response-intervention of the Axis of Resistance, part of which are the almost daily ballistic attacks by the Houthis of Yemen on Israel.

At the same time, the strong resistance of the Palestinians and the peace-loving forces are putting pressure on Western governments to recognize an independent Palestinian State on the basis of the Two-State Solution. In the European Union, eleven out of twenty-seven EU member states recognize the State of Palestine. In 2014, Sweden became the first country to recognize Palestine, while being an EU member state. Cyprus had recognized Palestine before joining the EU. On 28 May 2024, Norway, Ireland and Spain recognized the State of Palestine, the latter two being EU member states. On 4 June 2024, Slovenia recognized Palestine by an overwhelming majority. So why is Greece delaying recognizing an independent Palestinian State? Apparently some government officials in Greece are only interested in their CV and their petty political interests and not in international law and the sovereign interests of Greece. They have not understood that any delay in recognizing a Palestinian State tarnishes Greece’s image internationally and deprives it of prestige and arguments in the application of International Law to the Cyprus problem.

The developments in the war in the Gaza Strip and in Europe call on Greece to immediately take a clear and honest position defending the rights of the suffering Palestinian people. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Greek Prime minister must understand that the only path to peace in the Middle East is International Law and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State on the basis of the Two-State Solution as a fundamental condition for the peaceful coexistence of Palestinians and Israelis in the immediate future.