MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
29.5.2006
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Francis Wurtz, Adamos Adamou and Luisa Morgantini
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
on the situation in the Middle East and the suspension of EU aid to the Palestinian institutions
B6‑0301/2006
European Parliament resolution on the situation in the Middle East and the suspension of EU aid to the Palestinian institutions
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Middle East,
– having regard to the Quartet Statement of 9 May 2006,
– having regard to the EU Council conclusions on the Middle East process of 15 May 2006,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. having regard to the major political event constituted by the official visit of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the European Parliament on 16 May 2006,
B. having regard to President Abbas’s solemn appeal to the European Union, stressing the urgency of the situation in both humanitarian and political terms, to seek a solution to the grave crisis into which Palestine is sinking,
C. whereas on 7 April 2006 the European Union, the Palestinians’ main source of financial support, with funding of 500 million euro per year, suspended its direct aid to the Palestinian Authorities because a Hamas-controlled government had taken office,
D. whereas the freezing of European aid is exacerbating the economic and social crisis in the Palestinian territories, intensified by the Israeli occupation,
E. whereas the freezing of aid is contributing to the collapse of the Palestinian institutions that the EU itself helped to build, and in addition risks annihilating an essential partner in the ‘Barcelona Process’,
F. whereas Israel has suspended the direct transfer to the Palestinians of the customs and tax revenue – amounting to some 50 million dollars per month – that it collects for the Palestinian National Authority,
G. whereas not only has the United States, for its part, suspended aid, but the US Congress has just adopted a law on ‘Palestinian terrorism’ that closes two PLO offices, stops aid to all sectors, including the PLO, and forbids the Palestinian representatives to the UN to leave the city; whereas under this law all aid that did not pass through the new mechanism would be regarded as aid to terrorism,
H. whereas the Middle East Quartet statement of 9 May recommended the creation of a ‘temporary international mechanism that is limited in scope and duration, operates with full transparency and accountability, and ensures direct delivery of assistance to the Palestinian people’ in order to address the current lack of aid delivered to Palestine, a decision which was endorsed by the Council conclusions on the Middle East process of 15 May 2006,
I. having regard to the total political and diplomatic deadlock in which the Middle East peace process finds itself,
1. Is in favour of an immediate resumption of direct financial aid to the Palestinian institutions; calls in any event for the EU Heads of State and Government meeting in the framework of the forthcoming Brussels European Council to broaden the scope of the new financing mechanism, which excludes the Palestinian government, to cover all economic and financial activities of the Palestinian population, and for it not to be limited to specific sectors (health, education and paying the salaries of officials attached to the PNA);
2. Urges Israel to resume transfers of withheld Palestinian tax and customs revenues which are essential to averting a major social crisis in the Occupied Territories;
3. Calls at the same time for humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people to be stepped up, as well as aid to Palestinian refugees channelled through UNRWA; recalls that this aid, by its very nature, must not be subject to political conditions;
4. Is in any case convinced that it is unacceptable to take collective punitive measures against the whole Palestinian population, particularly after a democratic vote imposed and welcomed by the international community; recalls that the boycotting of a nation is always unjust and ineffective, and that it has never led to the toppling of any regime, but only to increased social and economic instability;
5. Calls on the Quartet countries to consider the full extent of the despair into which Israel’s policies have plunged this nation as a result of occupation, humiliation, poverty and frustration – in short, its blocking of the peace process; fears that the EU’s recent decisions and those of other financial backers will serve only to heighten this despair;
6. Recalls the profoundly democratic and indisputably transparent nature of the Palestinian legislative elections of 25 January 2006; takes the view that the international community – including the Quartet – must honour the outcome of these elections and the democratic legitimacy of the resulting institutions, and not behave in such a way as to overturn those institutions simply because they are not in line with the political expectations of the USA and the EU;
7. Stresses that two years ago Hamas officially suspended all military activities against Israel, that this moratorium is openly acknowledged at political and military level by the government of Israel, and that this is a situation which could be helpful to the dialogue among all the parties concerned;
8. Recalls that the existence in years gone by of a ‘PLO Charter’ calling explicitly for the destruction of Israel, as well as Israeli policies based on the negation of the very principle of the creation of a Palestinian state, have never stood in the way of negotiations between the two parties under the aegis of different international players;
9. Is convinced that the role that the European Union must play at this particular time is that of promoting contacts and dialogue between the Palestinians and Israel, on the basis of the ‘ceasefire’ existing on the ground between Hamas and Israel and the – by no means insignificant – fact that the ‘Change and Reform’ movement does not appear on any ‘anti-terrorist blacklist’;
10. Is convinced that there is no alternative to the application on the ground of the ‘two peoples, two states’ principle as the way to reach a just and lasting settlement of the Israel‑Palestine conflict through a process of negotiation;
11. Calls in consequence on all the conflicting parties explicitly to recognise each other’s fundamental rights, including – on the one hand – Israel’s right to exist and – on the other – an end to occupation, and the creation of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders;
12. Denounces the unilateral way in which the Israeli government wishes to fix Israel’s international borders, announced no matter what for 2010; calls on the Quartet to reject this approach;
13. Asks the next European Council to reiterate that the EU will not recognise any change to the pre-1967 borders other than those arrived at by agreement between the parties;
14. Calls on the Quartet to follow strictly the principles and timeframe of the Road Map and to encourage negotiations on a just and lasting solution to the conflict in the Middle East leading to a firm and final peace agreement as laid out in the Road Map for Peace;
15. Demands an end to work on, and the dismantling of, the ‘separation wall’ between Israel and Palestine, which will according to public statements by the Israeli Prime Minister fix Israel’s new unilateral borders; recalls that this ‘wall’ was declared to be illegal by the International Court of Justice of the United Nations and that it is a major factor in the impoverishment of the Palestinian people;
16. Stresses that, despite its declarations, the new Israeli government is in the process of authorising new settlements, notably around East Jerusalem; calls for the dismantling of all settlements on Palestinian territory;
17. Welcomes the opening in Gaza and Ramallah of a ‘national inter-Palestinian dialogue’ chaired by President Mahmoud Abbas with a view to putting an end to insecurity and confrontation between Palestinians;
18. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of Israel, the PNA, Russia and the United States, and the UN Secretary-General.