Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-14-Speech-3-291"
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"en.20090114.16.3-291"2
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"Mr President, I have taken the floor so many times in this House to say that we should seize any opportunity of peace, however slight, and that, in spite of everything, we should talk to Hamas, because it won the elections, that I no longer wish to return to these subjects.
I am overcome with sadness and anger, and while I do not wish today to let myself become overwhelmed with emotion in the face of this massacre, in the face of the war propaganda that I hear around me, in the face of the confusion, in the face also of the wave of hatred and anti-Semitism that is beginning to sweep through our streets, I have but a few words to say: Europe must go back to basics, and for me, these are obvious facts, but sometimes it is good to point them out.
Firstly, a Palestinian’s life is equal to an Israeli’s life, but not only his life, his future and his freedom, also. Secondly, international law must be respected, and international law of course means an immediate ceasefire. There are all the UN resolutions and the Geneva conventions as well, however. The fact is, this region, today, has become a lawless region where everything is seemingly permitted and where a population is being held hostage. Thirdly, justice will have to be served for all these crimes, no matter what they are or where they are committed. There will never be security without peace, or peace without justice. Transitional justice does exist, it is made for that, and, if it is not applied, the hate will continue to spread. Over the last few days we have built up a capacity for hate that will prove more dangerous than the bombs. Europe must enforce the application of the conditions of its partnership agreements, including paragraph 2 of its association agreements on respect for human rights. This is an obligation of these treaties from which it cannot be exempt. Lastly, Israel is not a special case. It has responsibilities as a State and it cannot be put on an equal footing with Hamas. When it comes to international law, there is no such thing as a ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ card.
On Sunday we left behind us in Gaza a population that was caught in a trap, imprisoned in a ghetto below the bombs, and hundreds of thousands of children whose futures are today in our hands, and we came out of Gaza simply because we are Europeans. The only Palestinians leaving Rafah are those who go feet first in ambulances, because they are dead or because they are wounded.
Europe will no longer be Europe, and no citizen will recognise himself as European if we forget these basics."@en1
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