Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-01-26-Speech-3-085"
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"en.20050126.7.3-085"2
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".
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate Mr Solana especially on having been there immediately after the elections. I must say that I met many Palestinians who were delighted that he was there and extremely proud that he had stayed overnight in Ramallah.
I should like to focus especially on tangible facts in my speech. The Palestinians have done their part, as Mrs Ferrero-Waldner said yesterday, and have clearly chosen peace, democracy and freedom. They have chosen Abu Mazen’s programme, which comes out clearly and decisively against the slide into military action, whether terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens or an armed struggle of the kind even envisaged by the Geneva Convention and considered to be legitimate, which I cannot agree with. They have thus chosen precisely a plan for reform, peace and democracy. I believe it is important to respond to any requests and to any change or shift in their position.
There is no doubt that the proposal for a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza should also be welcomed, provided that it really is a withdrawal and, above all, that it is carried out as part of the roadmap and part of the negotiations. I think that the Quartet needs to take the reins very firmly again to prevent what happened after the Oslo agreement from recurring. Then, the international community stood back and let two disparate, unequal parties build settlements and communities on the one hand and carry out extremist, terrorist attacks on the other. An international presence is therefore important.
At the same time, it is also useful to see what is actually happening. Apart from the elections and the prospect of withdrawal, another fundamental factor also needs to be taken into account: the concrete measures that the Sharon government has put into practice over the last two weeks. I shall confine myself to mentioning just a few of them.
The citizens of East Jerusalem can no longer go to Ramallah, which means not only that their economic life has been destroyed but, even worse, that a piece of land – East Jerusalem – which we consider occupied, has been annexed. It is not therefore just a question of the annexation of Jerusalem, as a single, indivisible capital, but of the annexation of the citizens of East Jerusalem.
The properties of Palestinians who live in Bethlehem, Bejallah and Ramallah and the properties of Palestinians in East Jerusalem are being confiscated. Carrying out such an operation now, when there is a peace plan, means emphasising the fact that even private properties belonging to Palestinian citizens who do not live in Jerusalem but in Bejallah are being confiscated. These are not just issues of secondary importance: they are issues that cause a shift in attitude even among those Palestinians who trust in the future and have found hope in the possibility of peace.
Lastly, there is the Gaza question. I was in Gaza during the elections. Rafah has been closed for 87 days. Thousands of innocent Palestinians, who are not even presumed to be terrorists, are blockaded within Gaza’s borders and sleep in the streets as they have run out of money. Even the Egyptian taxi drivers are distressed to see Palestinians reduced to nothing. In addition, there is the Israeli Defence Force’s proposal to destroy 3 000 houses to stop the tunnels.
All things considered, therefore, it is important that we should press ahead with the roadmap and seize every chance for peace."@en1
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