BE says government is "late" in recognizing Palestine and calls for sanctions against Israel

"Recognizing the State of Palestine is a duty of the Portuguese State under international law, international agreements, and international law, and it is also a matter of justice. The position that recognizes two states, but then only one of them exists—Israel—and that the State of Palestine is not recognized is an unsustainable position," Mariana Mortágua argued in statements to the Lusa news agency.
The sole deputy from the Left Bloc ( BE ) criticized the government for being "late in this recognition", arguing that for two years now we have been witnessing "a genocide of the Palestinian people".
"The government is late in making this recognition, which must be made immediately. This is the position that the Left Bloc has been defending, and this is what we will say to the government and the Prime Minister when consulted on this matter," he noted.
However, for Mortágua, in addition to recognizing Palestine, "sanctions must be applied to Israel," which he accuses of committing "war crimes," "starving children to death," and "carrying out a process of ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, in other words, genocide."
For the BE leader, the government is now making this recognition "because the winds are changing, it is doing so now because more Western countries are now recognizing the State of Palestine."
"Do it now because the scale of the genocide and the deaths has become unbearable, it has become undeniable, and this is causing several countries to change their position," he maintained.
Mariana Mortágua lamented that Portugal determines "its principled positions on human rights and international law not according to what it defends," but "according to the winds of change and what other governments in other countries think."
"The Portuguese government has adopted the most cowardly and hypocritical stance on this matter imaginable. While in theory it defends international law and human rights, in practice it is complicit in genocide, neither recognizing the genocide nor recognizing the state under attack. And the government maintains this argument," he condemned.
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced today that he will consult with the President of the Republic and political parties with parliamentary representation with a view to "considering the recognition of the Palestinian State" at the United Nations General Assembly in September.
"The government has decided to consult His Excellency the President of the Republic and the Political Parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic, with a view to considering the recognition of the Palestinian State, in a procedure that can be concluded during the High Level Week of the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations, to be held in New York next September," the Prime Minister announced in a statement.
Barlavento