Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-03-29-Speech-4-034"
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"en.20070329.5.4-034"2
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"Mr President, Mr Solana, the agreement concluded in Mecca between Fatah and Hamas would have been unimaginable in December, when a delegation from Parliament visited Palestine and Israel.
The establishment of a government of national unity is almost miraculous, but has obviously not occurred by chance, knowing certain members of it as well as we do.
There are many who have welcomed this political advance. The European Parliament too responded. Last week, the Committee on Foreign Affairs voted in favour of a draft opinion requesting that the economic sanctions against the Palestinian people be lifted. It also adopted the Rocard report on relations between Europe and the Arab world, which will be voted on at noon and which again advocates dialogue and openness.
Yesterday, a letter signed by Members of the European Parliament and in favour of recognising the new government was forwarded to the Palestinian Minister for Culture, who was visiting Brussels. The signatories, who include Mr Borrell, former President of the European Parliament, are neither hotheads nor enemies of Israel. They are men and women with a great love of peace who know that gleams of hope are so rare that they must not be lost sight of.
Admittedly, Prime Minister Haniyeh’s inaugural speech did not stick to the letter of the conditions laid down by the Quartet, but it reflected their spirit. This opportunity needs to be seized. All roads lead to peace when the required will exists. It does not matter whether it be the ‘Road Map’ or the Beirut initiative that points the way.
You have just returned from Riyad, Mr Solana, and we thank you for what you have done. You know that, this time, the offer is a serious one and that we need to be able to seize this opportunity. It is necessary to convince Israel and the Americans, and we would ask you to do this.
It would not be right to employ selective measures in relation to the new Palestinian Government and so attempt to separate the wheat from the chaff and to isolate Hamas from Fatah. That would be again to threaten Palestinian unity, which is the guarantee against civil wars.
Mr Solana, I would not hide from you the fact that, this last year, we have been disconcerted by European policy towards the Palestinian territories. We did not want that to happen. We did not want so much chaos, so much fruitless suffering and so much destruction. It was sometimes difficult to look at ourselves in the mirror in the morning. We want to be proud again of the European Union. Do, please, pass on that message to the Council."@en1
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