Marcelo says he doesn’t confuse Palestine ‘with who started the attack’

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa this Saturday again addressed the controversy caused by his statements to the head of the Palestinian diplomatic mission. The President of the Republic said that he did not understand the “fuss”: “The ambassador raised this issue, not me.”

The conversation with Nabil Abouznaid took place this Friday, November 3, at the Diplomatic Bazaar in Lisbon. Marcelo said the Palestinians “should be an example of moderation” and that someone on the Palestinian side started the escalation of the conflict. Confronted with nearly ten thousand deaths in Gaza, Marcelo responded: “Yes, I know you blame Israel. But this time it was someone on your side who started it. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“The fact that there are no two states yet does not mean that you can attack innocent people the way some of you did,” the president of the republic also said.

This Saturday, Marcelo defended his statements, arguing that “moderation is very important.” “What I said makes sense because there are signs that there could be a ceasefire if there is an agreement regarding the kidnapped people. And so I said that this understanding is very important, and after that, in this case, it was offensive that this happened. really born a certain way.”

“Everyone attacked and condemned the Hamas attack, I acted very moderately. But then I added then that, moreover, it destabilized the situation in a way that harmed those who had a specific cause. The Portuguese case has always been [a solução dos] two states [Palestina e Israel]”, he emphasized.

“I do not confuse Palestine with who launched the attack. I said that it was a group, Palestine is one thing, the group is another. There was no confusion,” the president concluded, noting that the disclosure of Portugal’s position on the issue is subject to conflicts institutional order, emanating from the government primarily to the president.