Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-02-18-Speech-3-035"
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"en.20090218.14.3-035"2
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".
Mr President, High Representative and Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, I warmly welcome today’s settlement to provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. This is a step in the right direction for the European Parliament.
The current humanitarian situation in Gaza is bad and the European Union has a responsibility to help.
Many words have been spoken with regard to the need for peace, dialogue, understanding, temperance – if one would wish to use that word – with regard to the reactions and the counter-reactions to different events. But three things jump out at us immediately when we speak about the Middle East.
Firstly, it is not a negotiation of equals. There is strength on one side, weakness and division on the other side. Secondly, it is not an equal participation of outside influences and outside media coverage. One side gets more positive protection from international media and countries; the other side suffers under the derogatory terms of ‘terrorism’ or ‘reactionary’.
Thirdly, and most importantly of all, despite all the political disagreements, geographical disagreements and historical disputes, it is the same people who continue to suffer day after day after day: women, children, innocent civilians, people who have no truck with political groups, political organisations or with paramilitary groups or terrorist organisations. These are the poor innocents caught in the middle of the rocket fire, of the bombing and the so-called – and I laugh when I hear these words being used – ‘targeted intelligent bombing’. There is no such thing as an ‘intelligent’ or ‘safe’ bomb. When it lands, it blows up – it kills people.
We have ample evidence to show that not only the Hamas rockets going into Israel killed innocent people but that, a hundred times more, the bombs and the bullets from the Israeli forces have killed thousands and injured thousands of people within Gaza and within the Occupied Territories. Indeed, we have evidence from an Irishman, John King, who works for UNRWA in Gaza, to show that, when they informed the Israeli authorities that their bombs were landing close to a UN compound in Gaza that was storing fuel and food and was also acting as a refuge to children whose school had been bombed earlier in the day, the bombs came closer; and when they had to phone them a second time, the bombs landed on the fuel dump within the UN compound.
Perhaps it is negligence, misinformation or deliberate targeting, but one way or the other it is an act – maybe not quite a war crime in some people’s minds – but it is an act of attack on the institutions of peace, humanity and freedom. At times of war, there are rules of engagement, there are certain things which cannot be done.
Of course, we must get aid and assistance to the Palestinian people for the rebuilding of their areas. Of course we must ensure and insist that talks take place and that peace can be allowed to flourish, but that requires us to take brave moves within Europe as well. Like Martin Schulz, I congratulate Javier Solana on walking that long lonely path of speaking to people that nobody else would speak to, of opening the doors of dialogue, because ultimately only through dialogue between enemies can you make peace, and only through peace can you build the foundations of a solid two-state solution that will guarantee peace, equity, security and justice within the Middle East."@en1
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