“The blood of Palestinian children is on your hands. You are a criminal, Mrs. von der Leyen. You should be in The Hague. You should not be here… Free Palestine! Free Palestine!”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen faced a “citizen’s arrest” on Wednesday as she began her speech at a summit in Brussels, by a member of the audience who charged her with “aiding genocide in Gaza.”
“Mrs. von der Leyen, this is a citizen’s arrest! You are charged with aiding genocide in Gaza. You expressed total support for Israel at the beginning of this genocide,” yelled David Cronin, a prominent Irish activist and author.
“The blood of Palestinian children is on your hands. You are a criminal, Mrs. von der Leyen,” Cronin continued, as a stony-faced von der Leyen looked on.
“You should be in The Hague. You should not be here. You should not be running for a second term. You are a war — you are a criminal! Free Palestine! Free Palestine!”
‘Worst Possible Crime’
Cronin, who is also an associate editor of the news site, The Electronic Intifada, told the Anadolu news agency: “In my opinion, Ursula von der Leyen should actually be arrested by the real law and order authorities for enabling the genocide in Gaza.”
“Genocide is regarded as the worst possible crime,” he added. “And she clearly did enable the genocide in Gaza with the trip she made in October, and indeed by subsequent statements that she had reiterated her total solidarity for Israel as it commits genocide in Gaza.”
‘Ms. von der Leyen, this is a citizen’s arrest. You are charged with aiding genocide in Gaza.’
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen gets confronted for her support for Israel’s genocidal slaughter, and smiles the entire time. https://t.co/bTiwqgclca pic.twitter.com/QXVT4q67pE
— Afshin Rattansi (@afshinrattansi) April 18, 2024
Cronin explained: “I became even more convinced that I had to do something when I woke up this morning, the first message I got was from a journalist in Gaza, who lives in a refugee camp called Al-Maghazi in the center of Gaza.”
He said the journalist “had a very distressed message about the children who were killed by Israel, a whole group of children were killed by Israel yesterday while they were out playing.”
Cronin’s protest action took place at the European Defense and Security Summit in Brussels, where Von der Leyen was a keynote speaker.
Previous Citizen’s Arrests
Drawing attention to von der Leyen’s support to Israel since October 7, Cronin said: “It’s very interesting that when the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its genocide in Gaza at the end of January, it cited both those remarks as evidence of Israel: The senior Israeli political figures displaying genocidal intent. Ursula von der Leyen did not express any disapproval whatsoever of those statements.”
By doing so, he said, Von der Leyen allowed Israel to buy some time to “commit massacres,” without coming under international pressure to stop those massacres.
‘Von Der Leyen’s Trip to Israel had High Cost for Europe’ – Borrell
Cronin’s protest against von der Leyen was not the first time that he had carried out such an action.
In the past, he also attempted a “citizen arrest” on former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Anadolu reported.
In October, hundreds of European Union staffers accused Von der Leyen of turning a blind eye to Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.
842 EU Staffers Accuse von der Leyen of Turning Blind Eye to Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
Over 33,970 Killed
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 33,970 Palestinians have been killed, and 76,770 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 7,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(Anadolu, PC)
