WRITTEN QUESTION E-3392/01

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN), Sergio Berlato (UEN),Antonio Mussa (UEN), Mauro Nobilia (UEN)and Franz Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

(7 December 2001)

Subject: Obliteration of Israel

The website of the Palestinian National Authority's International Press Centre (http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_a/ipc_a-1/a map/palcit-e.html) contains a map showing Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt but not Israel. Instead, the territory enclosed within that country's current borders is labelled Palestine. The map also fails to show entire cities, such as Tel Aviv.

In view of this example of virtual computer mystification, would the Commission answer the following questions:

1. Is it aware of the contents of this official website?

2. Does it not consider that the deletion of a country and its population from an official Palestinian National Authority document constitutes not only a worrying and dangerous attempt to undermine the Middle East peace process but also an official endorsement of the extreme terrorist views of those (Bin Laden included) who, in recent years, have worked and continue to work for the destruction of Israel and the triumph of fundamentalist pan-Arabism?

3. What immediate action does it intend to take vis-à-vis the Palestinian National Authority in order to ensure that the website is modified so as to reflect the actual political and geographical situation, with a view to preventing the virtual obliteration of Israel (in the eyes of site users) from heralding actual annihilation?

4. Does it not consider that investigations should be launched immediately into the use of the funding made available by the EU to the Palestinian National Authority in order to enable books to be purchased and schooling to be provided, so as to ascertain whether or not what children are taught in school is based on the false information presented on the website? If it is, should payment of the funding not be suspended?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(28 January 2002)

The Commission is aware of the Palestinian Authority's International Press Centre web-site. The web-site mentioned in the question is currently not accessible. Maps are available on other Palestinian Authority web-sites such as the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

The Commission notes that while not naming Israel explicitly on the maps, a clear distinction is made between Israel and the Palestinian territories. The explanatory text attached to the maps explicitly refers to the Palestinian territories in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

In this context, the Commission recalls the explicit recognition of Israel by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993, and would point out that the boundaries between Israel and the future Palestinian state will be determined in future final status negotiations.

The Commission regrets that official maps of several countries in the region, including Syria (showing parts of Turkey as Syrian territory), Lebanon (in respect of the Sheba'a farms) and Israel (showing the Golan and East Jerusalem as Israeli territory and referring to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria) are inconsistent with international law and United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions.

The Commission will continue to monitor the situation.

The Palestinian Authority is in the process of re-writing its education curriculum and is being aided by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) and several Member States. The Commission does not provide funding to the Palestinian Authority for the purchase of books.