Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-30-Speech-2-175"
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"en.20040330.5.2-175"2
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"Mr President, it is of course only right that the European Council should condemn Israel’s unlawful execution of the Hamas leader, Sheik Yassin. Why, as General Morillon said, are there, however, only words and pious wishes? Why not back our words with action? The EU has, of course, practical and unique opportunities to punish Israel through the Association Agreement. As early as May 2002, we considered, here in the European Parliament, that it was the last straw when it came to Israeli human rights violations, and we demanded then that the Association Agreement be suspended. Why does the Council not listen to Parliament?
Moreover, the European Commission has expressed itself along the same lines as Parliament. At the most recent meeting of the Association Council, the Commission produced a long list of Israel’s infringements of human rights and of UN decisions. At that time, the Commission warned that the EU would subsequently have to review its position if there were no improvement.
Moreover, we are concerned here with trade policy pure and simple. In a memo aimed at all importers of Israeli goods to the EU, the Commission has observed that Israel is being fraudulent in identifying the origin of its goods, so that goods from illegal Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian land are being sent to the EU with ‘Israel’ stated on the certificate of origin. Fraud of this kind, involving the rules of the trade agreement, is on its own enough to justify suspending the Association Agreement. Why all these words? Why no action?
What is more, we know that Israel has nuclear weapons and, according to the experts, probably still more weapons of mass destruction. Clearly, Israel is allowed to have them but, when others acquire them too, they are bombed back into the Stone Age. Why is action not taken against Israel?
How are we to have a peaceful world order, based upon law and justice, if tough punishment is meted out to certain lawbreakers – especially if they are Arab Muslims – while another lawbreaker, Israel, appears to be able to do whatever it likes, and all that occurs is that we repeat the same debate year after year after year without anything happening? The least that can be asked is that we repeal and suspend the Association Agreement, just as the European Parliament has requested."@en1
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