Swedish Left Party chair Ohly slams Israels bid to become OECD-member
The Left Party of Sweden finished its congress on Sunday, may 9. The party chair, Lars Ohly, raised the question of the Israeli bid to become an OECD-member in a Q&A following his inagural adress:
For us, it´s never enough to look at the narow, national perspective.The Palestinian people is one of the worst examples of the dubble standards of morality of the world today. The occupying state is rewarded – with increased trade, with more millitary contacts, that it is now suggested that they will become members of the trade federation OECD. […] This is a shame!
The Left Party has a long history of friendship with the Palestinian people and sent a delegation of six MP:s to the West Bank in March to meet with representatives of the Palestinian leadership.
The Left Party is one of three partys in the Red-Green oposition, alongside the Social Democrats and the Green Party. The opposition is expected to win the parliamentaty elections in september and Lars Ohly, chair of the Left Party since 2004 and a long time supporter of the Palestinian cause, is likely to become a member of the governing cabinet. Ohly continued by stating that
– A new red-green government must take on as one of its most important tasks to support the Palestinian peoples struggle against occupation and oppression.To abort all millitary cooperation – no military materials export from Israel! – and to remove the [Swedish] millitary attaché from Tel Aviv.
