‘No business as usual with a country that commits genocide’: Agius Saliba

MEP Alex Agius Saliba has called on the European Parliament to halt all trade with Israel, insisting there could be no business as usual with countries that commit genocide. 

Agius Saliba was speaking during the debate that followed European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen’s speech at the annual EU State of the Union in Strasbourg on Wednesday.  

“When we discuss the state of our union, we cannot ignore the state of the world,” the MEP said. “Our voters ask you to put a stop to the killing in Gaza. We cannot have business as usual with a country that commits genocide. It goes against our treaties.”

In her speech, Von der Leyen said she would push to sanction "extremist" Israeli ministers and curb trade ties over Gaza, as she warned famine should not be used as a "weapon of war". 

She lamented that divisions among member states were holding back a European response and said the European Commission she leads "will do all that it can on its own". 

"What is happening in Gaza has shaken the conscience of the world. People killed while begging for food. Mothers holding lifeless babies. These images are simply catastrophic," von der Leyen said. 

"For the sake of the children, for the sake of humanity - this must stop." 

EU citizens, Agius Saliba added, were also concerned about US foreign policy, adding that Europe should not be blackmailed into watering down its digital laws in exchange for calming Transatlantic trade tensions. 

The MEP said Europe also need to invest in its public digital infrastructure, noting that the continent was highly dependent on foreign technology.  

Fellow Labour MEP Thomas Bajada said young people who previously believed in the European project now felt forgotten, while families were abandoned and elderly people had to choose between a meal and a roof over their head. 

Accusing European institutions of turning a blind eye to genocide and injustice, the young MEP said the EU in its current state was not a union of peace, prosperity and equality. 

“Madame President, listen to the voices of our young people. They want a Europe that embraces its people and not one that instils fear. A Europe where no one is left behind, where every child has a future, where every elderly person lives with dignity. This is the Europe I believe in – a Europe of peace, of social justice and of hope for each and every one of us.”

Daniel Attard, also a Labour MEP, compared whats happening in Gaza to the horrors of the Second World War. 

"After the horrors of the Second World War our forefathers said never again, yet today in Gaza genocide is happening before our eyes". 

Attard said that his words were not anti-semitic but a denunciation of the "declared policy (Israeli Prime Minister) Netanyahu and his extremist government". 

Agius Saliba, Attard and Bajada were among several leftwing MEPs who expressed their support for Gaza during the address by wearing red at the start of the debate.

MEPs from the Socialist and Democrats Group (S&D) and the Greens also held a minute’s silence.