Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-01-19-Speech-3-109"
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"en.20000119.5.3-109"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank Commissioner Patten very much for the awareness he has demonstrated of the difficulties inherent in the peace process and the challenge that the European Union is taking on to bring it to completion.
It is high time there was peace in the Middle East. It is time to end the era which began with the Balfour declaration in 1917 and the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. It is time there were secure borders and political, social and economic rights in every country in this region, and that human rights were recognised and upheld in Syria, Palestine, Israel and everywhere else. This is an exercise in sovereignty, and in democracy for each population and every individual, but to this end it is vital for all parties in the conflict to have the courage to strive for peace and rights, and to recognise the other as its partner and not as its subject to whom concessions must be given. I refer principally to the Palestine-Israel question, but the same also applies to the territories which have been occupied in the Golan since 1967 and in southern Lebanon since 1982. Israel has to accept its responsibilities, withdraw from the occupied territories and share its water resources but, at the same time, it has to be sure that it will be safe and able to live in peace in terms of economic and political relations with all the countries in the area. However, Israel is not the only country concerned with security. The same goes for the other countries, especially for the Palestinians, who are still living under military occupation and whose land even today is still confiscated in areas B and C, despite the Oslo Agreement and subsequent agreements. Between the period when the Oslo Agreement was signed and 17 October 1999, 174 000 dunams of land were confiscated, 8 462 of which have been taken under Mr Barak’s Government. Trees have been uprooted, houses are still being demolished and, above all, water supplies have been reduced or refused, especially in East Jerusalem, while the settlements continue and are growing constantly. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that with the election of the new government, positive steps have been taken: negotiations, at least, have resumed. But in the Middle East, there can be no stable and lasting peace if the Palestinians do not have their own state, if they cannot move freely within their own territory. All the international community has to do is implement
Resolutions 332, 248, 245 and 194.
We are concerned by the deferment of the building of relations with Syria, as well as Mr Barak’s decision to postpone the withdrawal of the Israeli army and the Sharm el-Sheikh agreements. We feel it is extremely important for the European Union to play a political role in negotiations which matches its economic aid. We cannot be content with a role backstage. We must be leading protagonists while staying off a collision course with the United States, as Minister Gama said."@en1
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