Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-05-Speech-2-141"
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"en.20020205.8.2-141"2
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"I too nurture some small hope. In actual fact, there seems to be greater awareness within Parliament of the tragedy taking place and also of where responsibility lies for this situation, not least our own responsibility.
As Mr Solana has said on a number of occasions: we have wasted many opportunities. I fear we will waste others too, but I do feel it is important that we have gained this awareness.
I find Mr Bush’s support of Ariel Sharon’s policy
truly irresponsible, opportunist and inhumane, for it is not that the two sides lack confidence in each other: this is a specific policy, a specific decision – Ariel Sharon has made this explicitly clear in his speeches in the Knesset – not to allow a Palestinian State to exist, apart from ‘Bantustan’ territories, and not to give back the Occupied Territories. I do not understand why we do not realise that this is his policy and take appropriate action. At the same time, some responsibility certainly lies with Yasser Arafat, and it is an appalling tragedy for both Palestinians and Israelis that terrorist acts are taking place.
However, my hope lies in Commissioner Patten’s words, in Mr Solana’s words, in actions and signs, and I would like to tell you of the great hope that I have in Israeli society. On Saturday, together with 300 Israelis – young people, coloured people, young lads who have refused to serve in the Occupied Territories, women, university professors – we crossed the Kalandia checkpoint, running serious risks for the Israelis who crossed it were told they were not allowed to enter the Occupied Territories. Three hundred of us crossed the Kalandia checkpoint to go to meet Yasser Arafat. The young Israelis said: ‘We want peace. We are the other Israel’. And Mr Arafat embraced them. However, the most important part was in the afternoon when we met the Palestinians and Palestinian organisations, and they too displayed their desire for peace. I therefore feel that it is imperative that we believe in these organisations and act to support them.
I too, like Mr Cohn-Bendit, want to issue a challenge. If Mr Arafat leaves the territories, there is a danger that we will not be able to get him back in again. It is important that we work to support this operation, to bring Abu Ala and Avraham Burg here. International protection is vital for the Palestinian people; moreover – and here I agree with Mr Sakellariou – it is vital that we take practical action, even suspending the association agreement, for Israel must respect human rights."@en1
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