Madam President, I would like to thank Commissioner Patten and the President-in-Office of the Council, Mrs Lindh, for their speeches. Suffering and tragedy will continue to mark the days and nights in Palestine if Israel and the wider international community do not take action to restore international and human rights. Yesterday was another day of tragedy: more than 200 people, including a French journalist, were wounded at the check points, although the Palestinians had not opened fire; the evening claimed another victim, an Israeli settlement; over 500 Palestinians were killed, 23 000 wounded and hundreds maimed for life; bombings, the houses of the poor demolished by bombs, thousands of trees – the livelihood of the peasant farmers – uprooted, roads blocked, despairing men and women, prisoners in their own villages, going hungry and Palestinian leaders considered to be military targets executed. Pacifists from the Israeli movement, Peace Now, and I myself wept at the murder of Dr Tabet Tabet, an old friend; schools closed, land confiscated to make room for fresh settlements and further suffering: 80 Israelis, including children and adolescents, killed. We must stop the cycle of violence, for every death, whether Palestinian or Israeli, reduces our humanity. I understand the despair, the rage, the humiliation, the collective punishments, the retaliation, the need of the Palestinians forced to live under military occupation for 30 years for freedom; I understand the historical fear of the Israeli people, the persecutions they have suffered, the unique experience of the Shoah, for which we Europeans are responsible; I understand the fear that a bomb might explode under a bus or a shell hit a school, but these fears do not give anyone the right to occupy another people's territory or to violate international human rights. It is our responsibility not to allow any expression of anti-Semitism in Europe, guaranteeing to the Israelis that the safety of Israel is very important to us, just as the safety of the Palestinian people is very important to us. We have been saying for too long that we must stop the cycle of violence. What, then, is our policy? To urge the Israeli government to resume talks without delay and to put an end to the closing-off of the territories and the bombings. International protection for the Palestinians must be guaranteed – this request has been made by over 400 Israeli citizens as well as by the Palestinians – but, above all, the expansion of settlements and roads must stop. The Mitchell Commission also says this. Yesterday, in an article in the newspaper, Ha'aretz, Daniel Bensimon condemned Mr Sharon's false motives in respect of the natural population expansion of the settlements. He cites sources of American intelligence which state that 20 000 houses have been emptied and that many settlers, even those who are most fanatical, are leaving. He writes that, if the government genuinely had the interests of the country at heart, it would put a freeze on new settlements. This would be a positive message to the Palestinians, the Arabs and the international community. Stopping the escalation of violence: the Palestinian Authority must make every endeavour to prevent extremism from prevailing. There are no military solutions. The European Union – as Parliament has stressed – must play a political role: international law must be applied in real life and not just proclaimed in declarations. In this sense, respect for the agreements signed by Israel must be ensured, including the agreement concluded with the European Union which lays down a ban on the exporting of goods produced in the settlements to Europe. Commissioner Patten has made this very clear, as has Mrs van der Laan. The resolution upon which Parliament is about to vote calls upon the Council and the Commission to consider whether collective punishments and the disproportionate use of force are not in conflict with the principles of the Association Agreement and to take the necessary action: our aim is not to punish, just to obtain respect for the rule of law. There is no time to lose in the struggle for peace: it is necessary for Palestinians and Israelis, for the region, but also for us.

Political group: GUE-NGL