Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-11-Speech-3-305"
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"en.20070711.28.3-305"2
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"Mr President, Mr President-in-Office, Commissioner, many crocodile tears are being wept over the situation in the Middle East. Yet we should have known that it could very easily reach this point. Of course, it was impossible to predict just how far the political forces in Palestine would go down the road of self-destruction, but how much support has Israel shown for President Abbas over the past few years? When did we raise an outcry because of the lack of support for Mr Abbas? Where was the European Union's visionary and independent strategy? And why, President-in-Office, Commissioner, are we simply ignoring Mr De Soto's criticisms of the Quartet's policy? Is it because we have a bad conscience? Is it the fact that something has gone badly wrong here? Because, Mr Salafranca, we have to admit that something has gone very wrong.
I do not want to stir up past history however, because we need to look to the future. What needs to be done? Recently my group held a conference on the Middle East, chaired by Pasqualina Napoletano, and our findings were similar to those of the ten foreign ministers who recently stated their position in an article. I would have liked to see all the foreign ministers involved. We need to support the Abbas/Fayad Government actively, at least for now. But we should not believe that any such support would mean that the problems with Hamas had been solved nor that the Hamas problems can be resolved by military means – namely by arming President Abbas' troops, as some people believe. That is most definitely not the way to win the hearts and minds of Hamas voters.
As a starting point for the negotiations, Israel must at last recognise the 1967 borders – admittedly, that will delay some things. We need a comprehensive discussion of all the issues, from allowing exiles to return through to the wall. These matters will not be resolved easily, but they need to be discussed openly and honestly. We also need to incorporate the Arab Peace Initiative if we are to achieve genuine peace between Israel and her Arab neighbours.
Our objective must be to prevent violence, but we have to be fair. If we require one side to renounce violence, then we should demand the same from the other side, which has not been the case in recent months.
Let me say a few words about Tony Blair and his mission: we would have been happier if Tony Blair had pursued an active, progressive and successful Middle East policy during his ten years in government. There was no evidence of any such policy. Perhaps Tony Blair will now break loose from some of the ties that bound him – cross-Atlantic ties and others – and will be able to take on a different role. If that is the case, it will be very welcome. We wish him all the very best in his efforts for the region, but he will have to work hard to pursue a new and different policy."@en1
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