Palestinian ambassador in Nicosia Abdallah Attari on Monday said he would “never think” of intervening in Cyprus’ internal affairs after a circular was sent by the interior ministry to every municipality and village demanding the removal of any anti-Israel graffiti following a request by Israel’s diaspora ministry.

He spoke of “great disappointment” at the circular, particularly “at a time when the Palestinian people and I personally are watching with bated breath the recognition of the State of Palestine by countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Portugal, and we feel that our decades-long fight is finally being justified”.

“We would never think of intervening in the internal affairs of the Republic of Cyprus, a country with values and principles which has a society shielded against the dangerous phenomena of antisemitism and anti-Palestinianism,” he said.

He added that his country is “not in a position, and does not have the audacity, to indicate to an independent and democratic country how to operate or what to decide”.

“We fully respect the sovereignty, decisions, and democratic processes of a state with which we are linked by deep historical friendship and a common fight for freedom,” he said.

He also took umbrage with a statement made on the matter by Disy, which had asked Akel whether the circular “had come from the Palestinian side regarding slogans directed against it, would the party have issued a statement?”

“It is with surprise and deep disappointment that we note that Disy has chosen to formulate an ‘analogy’ which equates the Palestinian people with a state which, together with its prime minister and its ministers, is internationally accused of genocide and war crimes,” he said.

He added that “the Palestinian people are not asking for special treatment”, but that instead, “they are asking for justice”.

“They are asking to be able to stop burying their children under rubble. They are asking that their very existence not be criminalised. Solidarity with the victims is not ‘incitement’, it is a human obligation. Silence in the face of a genocide is not neutrality, it is complicity,” he said.

He stressed that “we are not the ones who intervened in the affairs of local authorities in Cyprus”, before saying that “Palestinians are genuine semites”, who “were born there and did not come from California or Budapest”.

“Anti-Palestinianism is not protection of Jews. It is racism described as ‘sensitivity’,” he said.

The interior ministry’s permanent secretary Maria Christofi had penned a circular to every municipality and village in Cyprus, saying she had been given “instructions to forward” a circular sent to Cyprus by Israel’s diaspora ministry on the matter.

She also said she had been instructed to “forward to you instructions from [Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou] that any such slogans which are detected be removed”.