EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 88/452

(2004/C 88 E/0463)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3147/03

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(23 October 2003)

Subject: Recent escalation of Israeli aggression in the Middle East

On a recent visit to Palestine with other members of Parliament, I was able to observe that the Israeli Government, despite criticism and protest, is pushing ahead with:

— building colonies on the West Bank, military occupation and destruction of infrastructure (some of it built with Community funding), agriculture, housing and other facilities;

— selective murder, and the constant violation of the most basic rights of the Palestinian people, in what can only be called full-blown State terrorism;

— the building of a completely unacceptable wall, about which the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Palestinian Occupied Territories has stated that ‘It is time to condemn this wall as an illegal act of annexation, just as the annexation of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights by Israel was condemned’.

Meanwhile, the Government is escalating its military aggression, with attacks on Syria for the first time since 1974.

Given these realities, it is totally inadequate merely to express ‘concern’, and it is even less acceptable to follow the US line and make Israel and Palestine equally responsible, confusing aggressor and victim, or make cynical demands that the Palestinian authorities control terrorist attacks, while Israel is destroying the Palestine authorities' wherewithal to do so.

Bearing in mind, furthermore, the repeated appeals from the Palestinian authorities:

— What initiatives does the Commission intend to take to ensure that the successive UN resolutions on the Middle East are applied?

— Does the Commission not believe that the suspension of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement between the EU and Israel, requested in the EP resolution on the situation in the Middle East of 10 April 2002, has been fully justifiable for quite some time?

Answer given by Mr Patten on behalf of the Commission

(4 December 2003)

The Union recognises Israel's irrevocable right to live in peace and security within internationally recognised borders. It continues to press the Palestinian Authority, as the legitimate governing body in the Palestinian territories, to do everything possible to prevent terrorist acts, to bring perpetrators to justice and to dismantle all terrorist networks. At the same time, the Union calls for the establishment of a democratic and viable sovereign Palestinian State. Union Heads of Government have endorsed the Road Map and, in line with its proposals and relevant United Nations Resolutions on this matter, have repeatedly called on Israel to withdraw its military forces and occupation; to stop extra-judicial killings; to change the route of the security barrier; to lift closures and other restrictions imposed on the Palestinian people; and to dismantle settlement outposts and freeze any expansion of settlements.

On the question of suspending the Association Agreement with Israel, the Commission recognises the frustration of those who feel that things have gone from bad to worse over the last three years. On balance, however, it is the Commission's view, reflecting the views of Union Foreign Ministers meeting in the External Relations Council, that suspending the agreement would at this stage make the Israeli authorities less rather than more responsive to the efforts of the international community to promote a lasting settlement.