For the record

Over the past few weeks, a series of opinions and letters have been published in this newspaper by the exponents of the far right and a number of their sympathisers disguised as undecided voters. They have attempted to tarnish the impeccable credentials of Alternattiva Demokratika by claiming that we are sympathisers of terrorist organisations like Hizbollah.

One even suggested that the Greens are anti-Semitic.

In order not to confuse the twisted opinions of the far right with the truth, I am compelled to state the following:

Alternattiva Demokratika believes that Israel has a right to exist, in peace. We also believe that the Palestinians have a right to a state of their own. Therefore, we subscribe fully to the two-state solution. We also believe in the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

Alternattiva Demokratika has and always will condemn violence from wherever it emanates. We have adopted "non-violence" as part of our statute - to date we remain the only Maltese political movement to have done so. We have a consistent record of actively condemning violence whether this came from Communist China, Fascist Serbia, Secular Iraq or terrorist groups in areas as diverse as Spain, Northern Ireland or the Middle East. We have even condemned, without any reservation, the murder of Dutch far right politician Pim Fortuyn by an environmental activist. We do not condone violence because the regime or group perpetrating it is of similar political orientation.

We had absolutely no problem condemning Hizbollah when it carried out terrorist acts against a sovereign nation like Israel, particularly when this resulted in the death of innocent civilians.

The kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah was a criminal act. So is the continuous kidnapping of a number of civilians and democratically elected Palestinian politicians from Gaza by Israel. We have condemned both acts. It is the far right that only considers the former act as a crime.

In a peace demonstration organised by Alternattiva Demokratika, Graffiti Movement as well as a number of NGOs, we condemned the illegal invasion of Lebanon. The purpose of that demonstration was to express our solidarity with the people of Lebanon who, soon after ridding their country of Syrian occupation, were being subjected to such horrendous violence. Israel's reaction was, in our opinion, outrageously violent and disproportional to the violence it had suffered at the hands of Hizbollah. In that same demonstration, we also condemned the attacks by Hizbollah on Israeli civilians, as well as the kidnapping of the two soldiers. The handful of pitiable exponents of the far right, who failed to disrupt this demonstration, conveniently do not remember the latter condemnation.

The Israeli invasion has resulted in the death of over 1,300 Lebanese, (the vast majority of whom were civilians), as well as the death of over 100 Israeli civilians. The aftermath of the invasion has confirmed our opinion that Israel's action was excessive and unjustified. The far right does not share our opinion. Fine, they are entitled not to. However, many others of considerably higher repute, including Kofi Anan of the United Nations, Pope Benedict XVI, President Emeritus Guido deMarco and hundreds of public intellectuals worldwide, do.

Amnesty International (Nobel Peace Prize 1977) has even accused Israel of committing war crimes, including the illegal use of cluster bombs on civilians. A recent poll by this newspaper has revealed that only five per cent of the Maltese believe that Israel's action was justified. This would tend to confirm, to the chagrin of the far right fringe, that an overwhelming proportion of the Maltese share our opinion.

The suggestion that Alternattiva Demokratika is anti-Semitic, because we condemned the invasion of Lebanon, would be ridiculous if plain and simply pathetic. It is tantamount to saying that a condemnation of Mussolini's genocide in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) is anti-Italian or that condemning the invasion of Iraq is somehow anti-British or anti-American.

Those who levy such puerile accusations are not able to make a mental distinction between a government and its people. This mental limitation is a fundamental mark of an ossified totalitarian mindset.

Alternattiva Demokratika has a proud record of 18 years of democracy and non-violence - we have practised both unfailingly and convincingly. It is perhaps our greatest merit - what fundamentally distinguishes us from our political adversaries. We have dedicated our time and resources to bring about a change for the better to our country; we will continue doing so consistently and credibly.

What we will not do is waste any more time rebutting the hypocritical nonsense emanating from the far right. There is a limit to everything, including our restraint. The next time anybody writes or publishes slander of the quality that has appeared in this and other newspapers recently, we will deal with it in the legal manner it deserves.

Mr Fenech is a spokesman for Alternattiva Demokratika.