'Silence is betrayal' - Coleiro Preca calls out Israel's 'ethnic cleansing'
Former president says passive neutrality on Gaza is complicity
Israel is waging a "systematic and sustained campaign of genocide” in Gaza and the international community must act decisively to stop the "ethnic cleansing", Marie-Louise Coleiro has said.
In a powerful video address delivered at the Freedom for Palestine international conference in Paris, the former President of Malta denounced the ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza as an act of cruelty.
Speaking as president of the Mediterranean Children’s Movement and a long-standing advocate for children’s rights, Coleiro Preca described the destruction in Gaza as a crisis that “shocks the conscience of humanity,” citing the deaths of over 54,000 Palestinians, including more than 16,000 children.
“Children are dying not only from bombs, but from hunger and dehydration,” she said, condemning the blockade and humanitarian siege as “the deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war.”
Wearing a keffiyeh, the former president welcomed the recent decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. She described the move as a landmark moment for international justice, reflecting charges that include extermination, starvation as a method of warfare, and other inhumane acts.
“This is not collateral damage. It is genocide by every legal and moral definition,” she declared. “It is ethnic cleansing. It is apartheid.”
Coleiro Preca’s speech comes amid growing calls within the EU for stronger measures against what she termed “a multi-faceted assault on life, hope, and identity.”
She issued a call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian access, protection of civilians, and a renewed push for a just peace based on the two-state solution and the right of return.
“The moment needs a powerful call to conscience,” she said. “Peace without justice is an illusion. And justice without accountability is an insult to every victim of violence.”
She paid particular attention to the plight of children in Gaza, especially those with disabilities, urging the international community to provide psychosocial support and expressive tools for recovery.
Coleiro Preca also endorsed the creation of a global coalition of governments, civil society actors, legal institutions, and artists to combat the root causes of the conflict, namely, occupation, apartheid, and impunity.
In closing, she welcomed Malta’s recent decision to officially recognise the State of Palestine calling it “a powerful act of solidarity and moral clarity".
“Malta and its people have long stood for dialogue and diplomacy,” she said, “but today, more than ever, we must stand firmly for truth, for justice, and for life itself.”
The speech ended with a call to action: “In the face of genocide, passive neutrality is complicity, and silence is betrayal.”