STA, 18 May 2021 - The Muslim Community of Slovenia, one of the two organisations representing Muslims in the country, has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Janez Janša in which it describes the flying of the Israeli flag on the Slovenian government building as an "abuse of power" and support for "Israel's genocidal policy."
V znak solidarnosti z ?? na stavbi vlade poleg slovenske in evropske tudi izraelska zastava. Obsojamo teroristične napade in stojimo ob strani Izraelu. pic.twitter.com/glF3LMi2wt
— Vlada Republike Slovenije (@vladaRS) May 14, 2021
"The government has raised the flag of an occupying power in the name of its ideology, not in our name," the letter says, adding that support for Israel is even more worrying at a time when "the Israeli authorities are pursuing a policy of genocide and apartheid".
The Muslim Community believes that "Hamas has only a potential desire to destroy Israel", while on the other hand the Israeli state "is actually destroying the people and the society of Palestine".
Janša was reminded that the instigating moment of the latest events in the Middle East was Israeli forces storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third most important in the Muslim world, at the end of the holy month of Ramadan, an "unprecedented violation of basic human rights" in recent history.
The letter asked the prime minister "how he would have felt if the police broke into a cathedral where he and his family were peacefully attending a Christian religious ceremony".
"Do you really have such an insensitive attitude towards victims and do you not care how 50,000 Muslims in Slovenia feel?" added the letter signed by Muhamed Čerkez, the president of the committee of the Muslim Community of Slovenia.
The organisation is the smaller of the two Islamic religious organisations in Slovenia. It was established in 2006 after a split in the Islamic Community in the Republic of Slovenia.
"Our community believes that international conflicts must be resolved peacefully and non-violently. Both Jews and Palestinians have a right to exist. But above all, truth must have the right to exist," concluded the letter.
Izrael so tako kot ?? na sam dan razglasitve neodvisnosti leta 1948 napadle sosednje države. In nato še 3x. Tudi letos je #Hamas napadel prvi, raketiral civilne cilje v ?? in se ob tem skrival za lastnimi civilisti. Muslimanska skupnost s podporo teroristom dela veliko napako. https://t.co/5jlaeNYXfk
— Janez Janša (@JJansaSDS) May 18, 2021
Prime Minister Janša responded on Twitter by saying that the Muslim community was making "a big mistake by supporting terrorists".
He said Israel had been attacked by neighbouring countries when it declared independence in 1948 and three more times after that. "This year as well #Hamas attacked first, shelling civilian targets in [Israel] while hiding behind its own civilians."
The Israeli flag was raised on the government building in Ljubljana last Friday as a sign of solidarity with Israel. The move came amid the worst conflict in the Middle East in seven years.
The Palestinian ambassador to Slovenia, Salahem Abdel Shafi, condemned the displaying of the Israeli flag. He told the daily Dnevnik that it was an outrageous and very worrying act and a display of one-sided, even racist politics.
Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador Eyal Sela said that Israel has the duty to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks as much as any other country.
