The seat of PN MP Albert Buttigieg will be left vacant in parliament today in a symbolic act of protest aimed at drawing attention to the ongoing conflict in Palestine, the MP said on Monday.

Whilst acknowledging the suffering of the Jewish people, Buttigieg felt that it is “ironic” that whilst commemorating the suffering of the Jewish people 80 years ago, “eyes are averted” from the suffering of the Palestinian people.

He noted that the Palestinian people have been suffering for a number of years and reiterated that it is “ironic” that one people is remembered and another is forgotten.

Buttigieg noted the 40,000 people including women and children killed in cold blood with the “country” left devastated. Whilst he condemned the actions of Hamas and their hostage taking “one does not justify the other.”

“For that reason I will leave my chair in parliament empty and not attend the commemoration in a protest and message to highlight that what happened in the past cannot be commemorated whilst the present is forgotten,” Buttigieg said. He urged the viewers to be “instruments of peace” without discrimination.