Swedish MEP Gunnar Hökmark reminds to Greek MEP Sofia Sakorafa that a peaceful coexistence in Middle East cannot be achieved with movements like Hamas and Hezbollah (video)

The following video presents the dialogue between SYRIZA (Greece) & GUE/NGL MEP Sofia Sakorafa and Gunnar Hökmark of the Moderate Party (Sweden), part of the European People’s Party, during the debate on the Recognition of Palestine statehood in the European Parliament. Sofia Sakorafa asked Gunnar Hökmark “since when occupation became a factor for peace in any region and since when the resistance to that occupation is called terrorism”. Gunnar Hökmark responded that a peaceful coexistence cannot be achieved when movements like Hamas and Hezbollah, which are not fighting for an independent and democratic state, are accepted. He added that those movements “are fighting for a society where people’s rights are humiliated” and pointed out that he wants a Palestinian state that fulfills its democratic obligations.

In a recent speech in the European Parliament, Sakorafa has suggested that “there’s an apartheid imposed” in Gaza and made a comparison between the crimes of the Nazis and “the atrocities of Israel”.