In a recent interview with a Swedish television station, the country’s foreign minister Margot Wallström referenced “Palestinian frustration” in explaining Friday’s Paris attacks perpetrated by Islamic State terrorists that took the lives of 129 people, and left hundreds more injured.
“To counteract the radicalization we must go back to the situation such as the one in the Middle East in which not at the least the Palestinians sees that there is no future; we must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence,” Wallström said during the televised interview.
Following the attacks Wallström spoke of the “need to tackle the underlying causes of terrorism.”
“Together we must stand up for democracy and for humanistic values,” she said.
Svensk utrikesminister visar förståelse för terror “Acceptera desperat situation eller ta till våld”Försvarar vår utrikesminister terrorattacker!?Hör hennes hemska uttalande efter terrorattacker mot judiska barn och civila i Israel och efter en islamistisk terrorattack i Paris.Nu måste hon avgå och ställas till svars för sitt agerande.
Posted by Tobias Petersson on Saturday, November 14, 2015
On Monday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry slammed Wallström’s comments, calling them “shockingly brazen” and part of a “systemic bias.”
“The Swedish foreign minister is systematically biased against Israel and displays outright hostility by pointing to any link between the terror attacks in Paris and the difficulties between Israel and the Palestinians,” the ministry said.
The Swedish Embassy responded by denying that Wallström “said that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is linked to tragic events in Paris,” adding that “Sweden condemns all acts of terrorism.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry, however, remained unimpressed, slamming Wallström for her “senseless attempt to create a link” between the Paris attacks and Israel,” saying it “deceives the international public.”
“It would seem that the Swedish foreign minister is afflicted with total political blindness,” Emmanuel Nahshon, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, told the Times of Israel on Monday. “This blindness may lead to tragedy.”
On Oct. 30, 2014, Sweden became the first European Union nation to formally recognize the “State of Palestine,” as a country Sweden calls “Palestine.”