1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications! [Psalm 130:1-2. NRSV]
[Note: An oversight has caused this post to appear a few months late. We upload it at this time as a sign of ongoing support for the oppressed and suffering Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.]
As Western democracies endlessly debate, Israel proceeds with business as usual, and Palestinians collapse in famine and ruination. Report on 22 August 2025 from an UN-backed initiative concluded that parts of Gaza are officially experiencing a “man-made” famine. “As this famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed,” said the report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). “The time to debate and hesitation has passed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed.”
On 1 September 2025 Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar opened the 20th Bled Strategic Forum with a fiery speech condemning Israel’s war in Gaza and accusing Western leaders of hypocrisy on human rights. Gaza is a test of our humanity. Speaking with truth, empathy and integrity, she warned that Europe risks losing credibility if it ignores Palestinian suffering while defending Ukraine. She boldly challenged the conscience of European leaders, reminding them of their own history and challenging them to stand up as human rights gatekeepers. People who lose hope find hope in her powerful speech.
The major part of her speech is reproduced below. For her full speech, please go to “FULL SPEECH: Slovenian President SLAMS West’s Silence on Gaza at Bled Forum | AC1G” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=724Go5eF8VA.
—————-
… Only 80 years have passed since the end of the Second World War. Only 80 years. And we already seem to have forgotten how vital human rights and dignity are for civilization and social progress. So deep is this collective amnesia that even the prevention of genocide, the most abhorrent crime against humanity, no longer carries the urgency it once did.
I’m not here to compare the dehumanization of millions under Nazism and fascism leading to the Holocaust and other crimes against humanity. Far from it. But I must say this, the world condemned the Cerebranita genocide and brought its perpetrators to justice. Why then only three decades later do some politicians tolerate even defend the Israel’s genocidal policy against Palestinians in Gaza? [Applause]
The international community resoundingly condemned Hamas’s terrorist attack in October 2023. How come we have no such consensus when it comes to people living in Gaza? How can it be that there are still politicians, including in European Union member states, who tolerate that most people in Gaza have been displaced multiple times? That more than 90% of homes are damaged or destroyed. How can they accept acute shortages of food, water, fuel, medicine, and shelter? or reports of Israel negotiating with South Sudan to transfer people from one war torn land at risk of famine to another or the fact that humanitarian workers and doctors themselves are starving while trying to help those in need? How can they not be moved after the news hit the world that the Gaza city and surrounding areas are now, ladies and gentlemen, officially, officially under famine?
Distinguished guests, these are not rhetorical questions. As human beings, we must ensure that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank never fade from the political spotlight [for] several reasons.
Firstly, because through our dealings with Gaza, we reveal who we are. Gaza has become a symbol of our attitude towards atrocities worldwide. If we cannot address Gaza, what legitimacy do we have to confront gross violations of human rights anywhere else?
Gaza has become a symbol of our attitude towards atrocities worldwide. If we cannot address Gaza, what legitimacy do we have to confront gross violations of human rights anywhere else?
Secondly, because our handling of Gaza reflects our understanding of humanity. When Europe advocates human rights as universal values, do we truly mean it or are they merely a tool for dominating political discourse?
Thirdly, because humanity is indivisible, we are rightly united in strong condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. We stand with the Ukrainian people and support the principle of territorial integrity. We cannot allow a country to seize another country’s territory just because it can. We cannot allow people to be killed merely for defending their country against an aggressor. In Ukraine, we defend international law and humanity. Values and norms are values and norms everywhere for everyone also in Gaza. [Applause]
Values and norms are values and norms everywhere for everyone also in Gaza.
Fourthly, because Europe needs to show unity in defending humanity, the EU’s ultimate response to Israel’s actions in Gaza will show the world how our leaders see Europe’s future. Whether democracy, unity, diversity, and trust in international law remain at the center of the European integration.
That being said, I find little cause for optimism. Attacks on democracy and fundamental freedoms are visible basically everywhere. Many of us grew up with leaders criticizing autocracies during the Cold War. Several of those regimes endure and their practices are spreading regrettably even in Europe.
Freedom of thought, academic freedom, and investigative journalism once shaped democratic discourse. Not anymore. And this is wrong. This is historically wrong. Without freedom of thought, there can be no progress. Attempts to restrict free speech are always met with resistance. Those who suppress freedom of thought and critical thinking always end up on the scrap heap of history.
With this in mind, I would like to express my support for the initiative to award the Nobel Peace Prize to Franchesca Albanz, the UN special reporter, [applause] the UN special reporter on the West Bank and Gaza and to the doctors caring for the people of Gaza. They deserve recognition. [Applause] They deserve recognition for risking their lives to restore peace and uphold humanity. They embody what multilateralism for human rights also means. Preventing individual politicians from acting with impunity.
Dear friends, we cannot stand by and watch history unfold without us. We must not let cold pragmatism drain the soul from Europe. Now is the time to speak truth, bold, unwavering truth to power to bring the united-in-diversity back to the very heart of the European dream. In an enlarged European Union, human rights and human dignity flourish in a world that is stable and just.
But [it] is in times of crisis and uncertainty that the true test begins, the test of our courage, our conviction, our willingness to stand firm and defend our values.
Now is the time to raise our voices, not in whispers of compromise, but in a thunder of determination.
Let us reject those who bend their values to the winds of profit and personal gain. Let us fight for a Europe that speaks out loudly through every multilateral form against injustice and exclusion, against every crime against humanity and for every silenced voice.
Ladies and gentlemen, as leaders, we shape the future. A path towards democracy, prosperity and peace or a spiral into fear, crisis and war. This is our moment to choose the side of history we will stand on. Billions, ladies and gentlemen, billions depend on our choice.
We Slovenians believe in justice and we have no doubt. We stand firmly and proudly on the side of humanity.
Thank you. [Applause]
——————-
To comment, please email jeffangiegoh@gmail.com .
