“Had I been a Palestinian, I would have been a terrorist” – Dom Mintoff to Golda Meir, November 11th 1973

Earlier today, I was looking for a reference and I encountered a note which I’d like to share given its relevance to today’s current events.

The photo I had once uploaded here, is indeed of the meeting that took place at the Socialist International and it took place at Churchill Hotel on November 11th 1973. On that day, Dom Mintoff had told his friend and ally, Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir:

“Had I been Palestinian, I would have been a terrorist.”Note, that this was much before Hamas had existed.

The quote is taken directly from Joe Camilleri’s notebooks of which I have a copy (of what had remained of them before he passed away). The Malta Labour Party and Dom Mintoff had broken relations with Israel and their Israeli Labour allies since then. Joe Camilleri was Mintoff’s most trusted secretary, and he basically accompanied him throughout all the time he was the Malta Labour Party leader.

Golda Meir was deeply offended by Mintoff’s remark, especially because she considered him as a friend, but in this meeting, Israel had lost several friends, already.

The meeting on that day was very contentious as a number of members of the Socialist International were backing the Egyptian proposals for a peace deal with Israel after they lost the Yom Kippur War. You can read an article about it on the New York Times here. British Labour Party Leader Harold Wilson, known to be a strong supporter of Israel, had also attended the meeting.

Egypt had tried to take over the Sinai Peninsula that was occupied by Israel in 1967 and failed. Syria had also failed to take over the Golan Heights, also occupied by Israel since 1967. Saudi Arabia and Arab states also declared an oil embargo on the US and European states that supplied weapons to Israel following the war.