THE MOTIVES behind the arson attack on Larnaca’s Palestinian cultural centre on Wednesday appears to be none other than “racist hate towards Palestinian refugees”, AKEL member George Loucaides said yesterday.
AKEL, he added, “intensely condemns the appalling firebombing attack against the building of Palestinian refugees who come from Iraq. We are calling on the police to act determinedly to get to the bottom of this unacceptable criminal act”.
If this was indeed a new act of racism, said Loucaides, it needs to raise the alarm for the entire state, so Cypriot society is not turned into a state of racism and xenophobia.
“There is nothing whatsoever that can justify any form of racist behaviour or action against any migrant; especially when it involves our fellowmen that belong to our neighbouring heroic Palestinian people, who for decades now have been suffering under the Israeli occupation, brutality and oppression,” he pointed out.
Loucaides said the matter was made worse by the fact that the the specific act of racist violence was expressed against a building that is mainly used by hundreds of Palestinians to learn the Greek language”.
AKEL called on the government and Larnaca Municipality to collaborate in order to designate another area for Palestinians straight away, while immediately starting procedures to restore the building.
The government, said Loucaides, must intensify its efforts to rid Cypriot society of the “racist – extreme right-wing ideology”.
These efforts, he added, need to be supported by all political powers, social partners, NGOs and media representatives – “as this phenomenon does not honour Cypriot society and our people’s traditions”.
AKEL’s youth organisation EDON was equally disapproving, expressing yesterday its “deep sadness” over the incident.
“We condemn this act without reservation and want to send a message of support and solidarity to our fellow men, the Palestinians,” said EDON. “Our response to these inhumane actions is that the Cypriot public does not forget the torturous days Cypriots experienced with the fascist coup and Turkish invasion of 1974. We don’t forget that the Cypriot public was also made to abandon its island and also forced to emigrate.”
