Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-04-26-Speech-3-079"
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"en.20060426.11.3-079"2
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".
Mr President, we are in a catch-22 situation. We supported democratic elections in Palestine and ended up with a government run by a movement which figures on our list of international terrorists. Continuing financial aid to the Hamas-led government would lend support to a regime which denies the right of its neighbour to exist; stopping financial support renders the Palestinian State unviable, puts the jobs of 140 000 public servants at risk and ultimately adds to tension.
All political groups in this House are divided about what we should do. Mine is no exception. We supported the Palestinian Authority with USD 600 million a year because we wanted to influence the peace process. If we do not, others will. Hamas needs USD 170 million a month to pay its wage bill. Iran said ten days ago that it will give 50 million; on Saturday Russia offered help; the Gulf countries have promised some 80 million. By contrast, Israel is holding back tax revenue which belongs to the Palestinians and the US Treasury tightened the screws on Palestinian cash this week when it banned American nationals from doing business with the first democratically elected Palestinian Authority.
What message is the European Union sending by stopping aid to the Palestinians? The Council wants to stress that aid is conditional on an explicit political commitment. The answer that a delegation from this House was given by moderate Palestinians and by EU officials working there was that we are perceived to punish Palestinians for electing a Hamas-led government.
President-in-Office, Commissioner, people read the headlines, they do not always read the details.
And you know from your own country that an opposition party, once it gets into government, does not always do the things it said it would when it was in opposition.
Mr President, Liberals and Democrats urge Hamas to recognise the right of Israel to exist; they must recognise that being a democratically elected government brings responsibilities. However, we must understand their perception as settlement after settlement is built on the West Bank that Israel denies their right to enjoy a viable State.
The longer we delay recognition of that government, the longer ordinary Palestinians will suffer and the longer Israeli's will continue to live in fear in insecurity. It is incumbent on us all to create a new dynamic in the Middle East, taking advantage in the change in the protagonists. Hamas must be made to acknowledge that they will get no quarter from the international community until they renounce violence, recognise Israel and recognise the commitments to the Roadmap.
Israel must be told that its policy of settlement outwith its borders must stop and that parts of its wall must come down. Officially Hamas's ceasefire is unbroken although there are those who would wish to have it otherwise.
As long as that ceasefire holds there is hope of bringing the two sides together again for dialogue and negotiation. Let us, the European Union take the initiative, not leave it to countries like Iran."@en1
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