Charismatic and outspoken former Portuguese President Mário Soares, resigning as head of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with Israel, has been quoted as saying his decision was "an act of protest and conscience".
"I do not want to participate and I do not want to be held responsible for the silence about what is happening" in the Middle East, Mário Soares said in Strasbourg, adding that he considered Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies toward the Palestinians as being "repulsive".
He described those policies as "catastrophic for Israel", transforming its people from being "the persecuted" into "the persecutors of a people they want to expel and colonise".
Soares expressed his "solidarity" with the Labour Party that abandoned Israel's coalition cabinet last month.
A Socialist member of the European Parliament, Portugal's elder statesman resigned last Wednesday from the head of the E.P.'s delegation of relations with Israel.
"I do not want to participate and I do not want to be held responsible for the silence about what is happening" in the Middle East, Mário Soares said in Strasbourg, adding that he considered Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies toward the Palestinians as being "repulsive".
He described those policies as "catastrophic for Israel", transforming its people from being "the persecuted" into "the persecutors of a people they want to expel and colonise".
Soares expressed his "solidarity" with the Labour Party that abandoned Israel's coalition cabinet last month.
A Socialist member of the European Parliament, Portugal's elder statesman resigned last Wednesday from the head of the E.P.'s delegation of relations with Israel.