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Geachte burgers van Rivierenland. Ik roep U allen bijeen voor een korte persconferentie omtrent de gebeurtenissen die zich nu in de Levant afspelen.

Zoals U al misschien hebben gehoord zijn er huidigertijd gevechten gaande tussen Israel en Palestina. In binnen een week is het geweld geëscaleerd tot gevaarlijke hoogtes, met raketten afgevuurd door beiden Israel en Hamas. Talloze burgerslachtoffers zijn ook gevallen, waaronder ook zelfs een aantal kinderen.

Na een tijdje de situatie te hebben geobserveerd zijn de Ministerieën van Defensie & Buitenlandse Zaken plus mijzelf ook tot een aantal besluiten gekomen:

Ten eerste sluit Rivierenland met ingang van nu alle diplomatische banden met Israel, totdat de situatie in de regio is gestabiliseerd. De diplomaten die aanwezig waren in de ambassade in Tel Aviv en het consulaat in Haifa zijn al dagen geleden teruggekeerd naar Utrecht en de Israelische diplomaten die zich in de ambassade in Utrecht en de consulaten in Frankfurt en Metz bevinden worden nu verklaard als 'Persona non grata' en hebben één dag de tijd om terug te keren naar Israel. Alle diplomatische posten tussen de twee landen zullen gesloten worden

Ten slotte zal Rivierenland ook met ingang van nu de Republiek Palestina erkennen als onafhankelijk land en zal het binnen een halfjaar een ambassade openen in Ramallah, met de Palestijnen een ambassade in Utrecht.

Dit zal niet betekenen dat Rivierenland haar erkenning van Israel zal intrekken, het zal nog steeds schamele relaties hebben met het land voor de tijd zijnde, maar terwijl het conflict nog doorlaait tussen de twee landen zullen de diplomatische relaties gering zijn. Ook adviseren wij om nu niet naar Israel, Palestina en zeker nooit naar de Gazastrook te reizen. Het is tijd dat wij het voortouw in het Westen nemen en eindelijk Israel op het matje leggen.

Dank U voor Uw tijd.

As you may have heard, fighting is currently going on between Israel and Palestine. In less than a week, the violence has escalated to dangerous heights, with rockets fired by both Israel and Hamas. Numerous civilian casualties have also occurred, including even a number of children.

After observing the situation for a while, the Ministries of Defense & Foreign Affairs plus myself have also reached a number of decisions:

Firstly, from now on, Rivierenland will close all diplomatic ties with Israel, until the situation in the region has stabilized. The diplomats present in the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Haifa have returned to Utrecht days ago and the Israeli diplomats in the embassy in Utrecht and the consulates in Frankfurt and Metz are now declared as 'Persona non grata' and have one day to return to Israel. All diplomatic posts between the two countries will be closed

Finally, from now on, Rivierenland will recognize the Republic of Palestine as an independent country and will open an embassy in Ramallah within six months, with the Palestinians opening an embassy in Utrecht.

This will not mean that Rivierenland will withdraw its recognition of Israel, it will still have paltry relations with the country for the time being, but while the conflict continues between the two countries, diplomatic relations will be limited. We also advise you to not travel Israel and the Palestine right now and to never travel to the Gaza-strip. It is time for us to take the lead in the West and finally call out Israel for their actions.

Thank you for your time.

Speech Given in English at the Skarlagen Parliament builing, transcribed by Christina Birch

As you all know, the situation in Israel and Palestine has recently escalated to a worrying level. I can only imagine how terrifying it must be to live in that land at this time, where rockets fly overhead and anyone could lose their homes, their possessions or their lives at any moment.

I speak to you today to provide the Skarlagen position on this conflict. In the past St Scarlett has remained relatively neutral on this issue. We have recognised Palestine's observer status to the UN but have never had diplomatic relations with the state and have always tied our diplomatic opinions on the country to those of Israel itself. However, based on the current actions of the Israeli government I have decided it is time for us to take a stand.

While many countries in the west are complacent in Israeli actions, including, most disappointingly, our close allies such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Canada and the United States. Choosing to either say nothing or to stay completely neutral, I would say this is no longer enough. It is clear to me who the aggressor is in this conflict, and that is a nation that is veering dangerously close to become an apartheid state, a nation that will not declare whether or not it possesses nuclear weapons but clearly possesses the strength, money and international allies to do so. It is for this reason that I have decided to close our embassy in Tel Aviv, we will not hold diplomatic ties to Israel until they end their aggressive tactics against the Palestinian and other Arab peoples living in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel itself.

In addition to this St Scarlett declares official recognition of the state of Palestine, the country will now be handled separately from Israel. We are considering opening diplomatic relations with the state once things have settled down in the future, when this occurs we will also reconsider our diplomatic ties to Israel.

This does not however mean we are abandoning the Israeli people, St Scarlett stands with the families on both sides of the conflict who have suffered and lost during these terrible times. St Scarlett will not be withdrawing its recognition of the state of Israel, choosing instead to recognise both states, as our friends in Sweden and Iceland have done.

My heart goes out to anyone affected and my government hopes that some day a resolution can be found. Thank you.

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