Arabs took to social media to criticize the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen's congratulatory video on the Israeli Occupation's 'Independence Day,' which was published Wednesday.

One of the most problematic parts of von der Leyen's speech was saying that the Israeli Occupation "made the desert bloom."

The speech has been described as 'inappropriate,' 'false' and 'racist," among many other things.

- Open letter to von der Leyen -

One of the countless Palestinians who took a firm stance against her speech was the Palestinian researcher Salman Abu Sitta, as he sent an open letter to von der Leyen accusing her speech of "so many errors of fact, misguided judgment, violation of international law and deviation from basic norms of justice."

He wrote: "You congratulated Israel on 75 years of existence on a land area of 20,500 km2, which is 78 percent of Palestine. Not one km2 of this area is obtained by any legal or just means. Six percent was obtained through the treacherous British collusion and 72 percent by military conquest. How could you congratulate a regime which obtained this land by spilling the blood of the innocent?"

He went on to explain how the Israeli Occupation "has no boundaries, neither by international law nor by its own admission," stressing the fact that it occupied land in 1948 and again in 1967.

- He criticized her appraisal of their scientific achievements -

Abu Sitta made a strong comparison to put things into perspective saying: "If you gather the best of German scientists and locate them in Madagascar Island, where they killed the people of the island and set up the best laboratory. Would you consider that a scientific achievement?"

He also spoke about the "scientific research" that falls under the EU-Israel Association, which requires the Israeli Occupation to abide by Human Rights, "But you, in particular, Germany and Holland, waived this clause on demand by Israel."

- Israeli Occupation propaganda -

He spoke the mind of Palestinians and Arabs when he said: "You say also “Israel made the desert bloom”. You fell into the trap of Israeli propaganda. With your government capabilities, you could have done a better job."

He explained it as follows: "The area of the southern district is 12,500 km2. Israel irrigated at best 800 km2. The remaining 94 percent was and is still desert. The irony is that the irrigation water is stolen water from the West Bank and Golan Heights. All the stolen water used in agriculture produces only 1.5 percent of Israel GDP."

- Elephant in the room -  

He pointed out that the biggest fault in her video was that she "did not see the elephant in the room. You did not see or recognize Al Nakba, the worst disaster in Palestine’s 4000 years history."

He also said that she made no mention of the Zionist invasion by 120,000 European soldiers in nine brigades, involving 31 military operations, which depopulated 560 towns and villages through massacres, making refugees of two-thirds of Palestinians.

- Palestine in geography -

Abu Sitta expressed his disappointment saying: "How can you escape this calamity? Do you not know Palestine?"

He advised von der Leyen to look at mid-19th century maps by European geographers Kiepert and Van de Velde that mention Palestine.

He also asked her to "Go to seven volumes of Victor Guerin describing every village in Palestine. If you miss all that, you cannot miss the historical visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to Palestinian Jerusalem on 31st October 1898. You cannot miss the voluminous scholarly work of Gustav Dalman about Palestine’s people."

- Indicators of Western racism -

He concluded his letter by writing "With this knowledge, it is very sad, and indicative of the Western racism, that you voted frequently against Palestinian Inalienable rights in the United Nations, invoking the sordid European history of colonialism."

He did however say that it is not too late, urging her to retract what she has said and done.

- A comparison between von der Leyen's speech and reality -

South African activist, Adam Bloomberg, posted the video of von der Leyen's "propaganda speech" in which he highlighted the vast difference between the claims of the EU's Von Der Leyen speech and the reality of 75 years of ongoing Nakba.

Under the video, he wrote: "Propaganda speech by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the 75th birthday of the Israeli apartheid regime vs the reality of 75 years of ongoing Nakba."

- Social media users express dissatisfaction following von der Leyen's speech -

Additionally, many social media activists took to social media to express their dissatisfaction following von der Leyen's speech.

A Twitter user wrote: "Palestinian civil society organizations vehemently denounce and reject the shameful statement...in which she celebrated Israel’s “Independence” day by using racist anti-Palestinian tropes and denying Palestinian history and the atrocities of the #Nakba"

Another wrote: "It's not Independence Day, it's the anniversary of the occupation of a state, the displacement and killing of its people, and the destruction of the lives of an entire people."