Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-20-Speech-4-267"
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"en.20081120.31.4-267"2
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"Mr President, let me commence by stating that I am speaking in a personal capacity on this topic.
Let me also say that I am well aware, as you all should be, that whatever is said in this Chamber regarding Israel gets scrutinised very meticulously by the Israeli authorities and then gets totally disregarded as far as the substance of the matter is concerned. The only action taken is to attack, in various ways, those MEPs who criticised in any way, shape or form Israeli wrongdoings.
I have had personal experience of this. During the recent debates in this House on Palestinian prisoners in Israel, I used strong language to attack the Israeli Government officials. I did this in order to stress to them that their stance on the Palestinian prisoners was – and still is, I am afraid – utterly inhuman and criminal.
Subsequent to my speech, not only did the Ambassador of Israel to Cyprus embark on a political defamation campaign against me, but, more importantly, the Speaker of the Knesset, Ms Dalia Itzik, wrote an official letter of complaint against me personally to the President of the European Parliament. Mr Pöttering replied as diplomatically as he could, and I thank him for defending the right of free speech of MEPs in debates taking place in this House. I also thank him for copying his reply to Ms Itzik to me. I have that letter here and I submit it to the Secretariat so that there is evidence that what I am saying is true.
Furthermore, I have this message for Ms Itzik: in the European Parliament, and in the EU in general, we have the right to express our opinions freely and democratically. Perhaps you, Ms Itzik, should do the same in your parliament and in your country too.
As regards the subject matter of this resolution, I wish to say the following. First, this is not a judicial civil matter, as some ill-informed or ill-informing Members of this House might propose: it is clearly a political matter; it is a continuation of the policy of successive Israeli Governments to kick Palestinians out of their homes and lands and to absorb by force – or by using legalistic tricks – as much of the Occupied Territories as possible into the state of Israel.
Secondly, an attempt is made by the Israeli mission to the EU, in a document sent selectively to some MEPs, to argue that property concerned belongs to Israelis for historical reasons. It is claimed in that document that two Jewish NGOs bought the land on which the buildings in the contested neighbourhood are built during the rule by the Ottoman Empire. Quite honestly, such a claim cannot be taken seriously and deserves no further consideration.
In conclusion, let me reiterate my position so that there can be no mistake: I respect the right of the Jewish people to have their own state, but the Jewish Government must respect the right of the Palestinian people to have theirs."@en1
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