Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-19-Speech-2-011"
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"en.20070619.4.2-011"2
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".
Mr President, as Mr Schulz said, there can be no justification for the actions of Hamas militants, however badly the Palestinians have been treated.
However, we caution against supporting the West Bank administration at the expense of Gaza. If you consider the strip a ‘terrorist entity’ – as Israeli officials have called it – you will not bring the region any closer to peace, you simply create more insecurity as a desperate people, deprived of food and other essentials, decides it has nothing left to lose.
Hamas control of Gaza was the nightmare that became reality. However, the European Union must not be prepared to take a back seat and watch as Iran becomes a player in the contest.
If this year has taught us nothing else, it is that politics – and politics alone – can create prospects for peace in the Middle East.
While Parliament, at least, kept talking, the Council and the Member States took to the sidelines. It is now up to the Council and our Member States to put democracy, human dignity and the rule of law back at the centre of proceedings and work to foster peace in the region.
And yet, if one year ago the international community had not reneged on its commitment to democracy in Palestine, if we had not refused dialogue with Hamas moderates and suspended direct aid payments to a freely elected government, the situation would not be as bad as it is today.
Financial sanctions designed to force recognition of Israel or to push Hamas out of power altogether have simply made the Palestinians more desperate and prospects for peace more precarious.
A two-state Palestine is emerging, riddled by violence, sectarianism and fear, while a two-state solution to the conflict is moving further away.
Liberals and Democrats are disappointed – though not surprised – by what has come to pass. A year ago, we warned that Palestinian suffering would lead to greater extremism, particularly in Gaza’s prison conditions, where 1.4 million citizens have been systematically sealed-off and starved of their basic necessities.
Last week’s violent takeover of Gaza bespoke a lack of respect for the rule of law, which is a
requirement for any legitimate government.
If Hamas is not careful, it will have betrayed its cause and, in the words of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, ‘put the last nail in the coffin’ of the dream of a Palestinian state.
Unless we want civil war to triumph over unity, all sides must face the facts: their refusal of dialogue has got them nowhere.
A heavy dose of pragmatism is now required – not condemnation, not sanctions, and certainly not a refusal to negotiate. That is the coward’s option and one which will backfire. To that end, my Group welcomes Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s determination to restore security and President Abbas’s commitment to dialogue. We welcome resumption of direct aid to the Palestinian Authority and the prospective release of up to USD 800 million in Palestinian tax revenues by the Israeli Administration."@en1
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