On Wednesday 23 April, MEPs from The Left group welcomed a group of health professionals who have been on hunger strike since 31 March in protest against the humanitarian blockade in Gaza and the recurring attacks on Palestinian medical staff.
The doctors and activists denounced “the complicity of European countries and EU institutions in the ongoing genocide”, said the radical left-wing group in the European Parliament in a statement describing the “hell” witnessed by the emergency doctors.
The decision to go on hunger strike was initiated by French emergency doctor Pascal André, who told MEPs about numerous atrocities committed in the Palestinian enclave, criticising the “cowardice” and “collusion” of European countries in the “Israeli genocide”.
“Hunger strike has always been a last resort and in the case of the genocide in Gaza it is more than justified. The pleas of Palestinians for medication and food have been ignored by Israel and its European allies”, said Carola Rackete MEP (German, The Left) alongside the meeting.
“European countries and the United States are working in concert with Israel to this day, which demonstrates the criminal foreign policy of the European Union. These brave doctors show an alternative path”, said Belgian MEP Marc Botenga (The Left). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)