“If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let it die.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro has announced his country will sever diplomatic relations with Israel due to its ongoing genocidal war on Gaza.
”Here before you, the Government of Change, the President of the Republic informs you that tomorrow diplomatic relations will be broken with the State of Israel, for having a government, for having a genocidal president,” Petro declared at a Workers Day rally attended by thousands in Bogota on Wednesday.
“Today all of humanity, in the streets, by the millions, agrees with us, and we with them. It cannot be, it cannot return, the times of genocide, of the extermination of an entire people before our eyes,” he said.
“If Palestine dies, humanity dies, and we are not going to let it die,” the president stressed.
Bdía,
Turquía se adhiere a la denuncia contra Israel por presunto genocidio en Gaza ante la CIJ.
Gustavo Petro rompe las relaciones diplomáticas con Israel “por tener un presidente genocida”.
ACCIÓN versus “reflexión”.
Si no actuamos..somos cómplices del #GenocidioEnGaza#Hartura pic.twitter.com/0MMDx2xqgg— Julio Rodríguez (@Julio_Rodr_) May 2, 2024
Hamas: ‘A Victory’
The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas said it “highly” appreciated the stance taken by Colombia, saying that the movement considers “this position a victory for the sacrifices of our people and their just cause.”
The movement called on “all South American countries and all nations to fully sever their diplomatic relations with this rogue fascist entity that continues its crimes against our people and blatantly disregards all international laws and norms.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz hit back at Petro calling him “antisemitic” in a post on X.
“Relations between Israel and Colombia have always been warm,” Katz continued, “and no hate-filled, anti-Semitic president can change that.”
ICJ Case
In early April, the Colombian government requested the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to allow the country to intervene in South Africa’s lawsuit against Israel.
The government said it made the submission “in the genuine belief that the States parties to the Genocide Convention should do everything in their power to ensure the prevention, suppression and punishment of genocide.”
‘Right to Exist As a People’ – Colombia to Join South Africa in ICJ Case against Israel
President Petro has repeatedly spoken out against Israel’s atrocities in the Gaza Strip since October 7 calling it “Nazi-like” and threatening to suspend diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.
“If we have to suspend foreign relations with Israel, we will suspend them. We do not support genocides,” Petro said in October.
His comments followed Israel’s decision to halt military sales to Colombia due to his stance.
The government of Bolivia also cut diplomatic ties with Israel last year, accusing Tel Aviv of committing crimes against humanity in the besieged enclave.
Over 34,000 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, 34,568 Palestinians have been killed, and 77,765 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’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
