Hamas and the Ambassador
Paris, 31 October 2023
Mr. Chancellor,
In June 2022, on behalf of the Wiesenthal Centre’s 400,000 members, we were aghast at the behaviour of Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, the European Commission’s Envoy to “Palestine”, in particular following his statement, “terrorist attacks against Israelis should not be surprising...”
See: https://wiesenthal-europe.com/en/news-releases-menu/43-news-releases-2022/934-wiesenthal-centre-open-letter-we-are-aghast-at-eu-representative-s-words-terrorist-attacks-against-israelis-should-not-be-surprising-von-burgsdorff-must-be-fired
In reality, he turned out to be the “EU’s representative to Hamas”, which is recognized as a terrorist organization across Europe and whose Charter calls for the murder of Jews worldwide.
It took over a year for the EU to rid itself of von Burgsdorff. Nevertheless, this August, as a final act that he claimed as “diplomatic immunity”, he paraglided along the coast of Gaza, in his words to the local onlookers: “You can fly here... Once we have a free Palestine, a free Gaza, you can do exactly the same thing... I did this, to show you the way forward!”
Responding to the Israeli authorities’ remonstrations, a EU Delegation spokesperson apparently claimed that the paraglider belonged to von Burgsdorff and was used “for purely sporting activity!”
It seems however that this type of equipment entered Israel illegally and clearly inspired Hamas. In fact, only three months later, on 7 October, hundreds of terrorists flooded the Israeli territory close to Gaza, several dozens with motorized paragliders. The latter – operatives of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade – are suspected to have murdered, among others, over 260 youth at a music festival...
On that infamous day, Hamas killed over 1,400, while some 240 were kidnapped, including babies, children, teenagers, women, elderly and Holocaust survivors.
The “Hamas paraglider attack” has become a meme for white supremacists... Both of these groups have in common their hate and genocidal intent towards the Jews.
Mr. Chancellor, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff is a German national. We urge this case to be investigated further... His behaviour and words could be considered incitement to terrorism and a crime against humanity.
Most respectfully,
Dr Shimon Samuels
Director for International Relations
Simon Wiesenthal Centre
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For further information, contact csweurope@gmail.com