Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-30-Speech-3-074"
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"en.20080130.17.3-074"2
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"Mr President, Mr Solana, Commissioner, taking a whole people hostage has been a failure. It is a lesson from another era that could not work, but the worst part of it is that the situation has become worse, politically and in human terms. We do therefore have to ask ourselves questions. The policy of isolating Hamas and thereby isolating Gaza has failed. Hamas is now more popular than ever. It is very strange: Mr Solana and the Commissioner said that the Palestinians have to regain control on the borders, but how can the Palestinian Authority regain power in Gaza? The West Bank is not the borders. That is one problem. The other problem is the borders of Gaza. Besides that, there is an agreement between Egypt and Israel, under which the Egyptians in Sinai are not allowed to be armed. That is the agreement dating from 20 years ago, from the peace treaty. Even if the Egyptians wanted to stop terrorists in Sinai, they are therefore not allowed to. The situation is thus totally crazy and it is true that in this crazy situation we have to assume our responsibilities. The first responsibility is for the people of Gaza to be able to live and for that we have to negotiate with those holding the administrative power in Gaza. We cannot say, 'We want to give them food and drink, we want to give them medicines, but we do not want to talk to those who can have the medicines taken to them'.
Secondly, it has to be said that the Palestinians will believe in peace when peace gives them something. On the West Bank at the moment, there has been no improvement with the borders, or with freedom of movement. Peace is concrete, not abstract. The rockets are not going to stop in the current situation, and if Israel is to be secure we therefore have to say to it, ‘The blockade is making life impossible for the Palestinians and that is endangering the security of Israel’. That is the truth. We also have to say to Mr Bush: ‘In any case you will not be there in a few months’ time. So keep quiet and leave the politics to other people who have a better understanding of the situation’. Whether Israeli policy follows American policy or vice versa, they are a failure and we cannot support them. It is therefore not enough for the European Union to say ‘Press ahead’ it needs to say, ‘Press ahead in the right direction, talk to those who are in charge, and talk to the Israeli leaders’. It needs to say that our solidarity with Israel does not mean that we shall go on supporting it in a totally suicidal policy."@en1
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