Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-07-Speech-3-156"
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"en.20050907.18.3-156"2
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"Mr President, as we witness the Israeli disengagement from Gaza, completed in one-third of the time planned, with no casualties and with no wave of terror as predicted by some, I reflect on what the critics said when that disengagement was first announced. Then they protested. Today, with all the qualifications, they celebrated. Despite all the difficulties, hope succeeded over cynicism. In the wake of these developments, it is the role of the European Union and international community to keep open this moment of hope.
I welcome the continuing Commission commitment, repeated this afternoon by our colleague Mr Verheugen, to economic reconstruction in the Palestinian territories. Gaza represents one of the most scarred and desolate corners of the world. The World Bank says that nearly half of the Palestinians there live below the poverty line. Freedom from fear must be matched by the freedom to eat and to work. That is why I welcome the President-in-Office's commitment this afternoon to work with Israel and the other parties on free movement, to facilitate the movement of 20 000 Gaza residents who work in Israel and to lift the blockages of borders of land, sea and air. Gaza cannot be economically viable otherwise.
As a member of Parliament's Electoral Observer Commission, I agree with colleagues that we have a crucial role to play to ensure that the commitments made by the Palestinian Authority at the London conference on security, democratic reform and good governance are realised.
However, the critics will continue to remind us that more new settlements have been built this year on the West Bank than were evacuated in the last month, that 8 000 settlers are left but more than 240 000 still remain. The differences on the 1967 borders and on the status of Jerusalem are as deeply entrenched today as is that much-disputed security wall. We cannot avoid these uncomfortable truths. The only hope remains the roadmap, endorsed by the Quartet, by this European Union. It is our responsibility to keep that hope and opportunity alive."@en1
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