October 12: The Irish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Clare Daly slammed EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for her pro-Israeli tweet. The EU Commission President tweeted, “Today, Hamas terrorists have struck at the heart of Israel capturing and killing innocent women and children. Israel has the right to defend itself – today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel.”
Taking to the social media platform Twitter, Daly tweeted, “Who do you think you are? You’re unelected, and have no authority to determine EU foreign policy, which is set by @EUCouncil. Europe does NOT “stand with Israel.” We stand for peace. You do not speak for us. If you’ve nothing constructive to say, and you clearly don’t, shut up.” Daly’s remarks have elicited mixed responses, with some appreciating her for confronting von der Leyen and others rebuking her for using an aggressive tone.
A speech (delivered 31 May 2023) by MEP Daly has gone viral on the internet. Daly can be seen addressing the European Parliament saying, “Thanks very much President. Over five days earlier this month Israel attacked and bombed Gaza 323 times. 10 civilians were killed, 1100 people were displaced. More than 150,000 Palestinian civilians have been killed or injured in Gaza and the West Bank since 2008; 33,000 of those were children. The EU stands by and watches this happen and calls Israel our friend. We construct houses and schools in the West Bank; the Israelis come and destroy them. We cannot consider ourselves a union of values and continue to call Israel our friend. We need to have this conversation, a full and necessary debate on this.”
