Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-14-Speech-3-275"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20090114.16.3-275"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, President-in-Office of the Council, I should like to describe my starting point. Hamas opposes a two-state solution, rejects the right of existence of the State of Israel, has taken power by means of a brutal coup against its own people, fires rockets at civilians, and uses civilians, schools and mosques as human shields. How, when trying to protect one’s own civilians, is it possible to react proportionately if the other side is using its own civilians as human shields? Therefore, the concepts of numerical comparison and proportionality are not applicable in a situation such as this. In a war situation there is no proportionality – each war and each casualty is one too many, and it is not possible to balance figures for each side against the other. This seems to me to be the sensible starting point. Therefore, we should not be engaging in the kind of one-sided finger-pointing we have seen, but instead attempting to bring about a ceasefire and to provide help in this regard.
I believe that President-in-Office Schwarzenberg and his delegation, and also Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, with the help of other national delegations, have done more in this regard than any other party, for which I wish to thank them sincerely – I have seen no sign of the United States, hardly any sign of the UN and no sign of the other members of the Quartet. We must ensure that this ceasefire has two components: there must be an end to the Israeli attack, and Hamas must be prevented from getting its hands on new rockets from Korea and Iran that would put Tel Aviv within range. For this reason, it must be ensured not only that the firing stops but also, by means of international agreements including the Quartet and the Arab League, with Egypt in the key role, that the 15 km border is patrolled to the extent that no more shots can cross into Gaza. At the same time, the Israeli attack must be stopped.
There is one final comment I should like to make. This is just a small first step. If Israel wishes to have moderate Palestinians to deal with in future – which would mean a two-state solution – then, once this is all over, care must be taken at long last that the moderate Palestinians supporting President Abbas have accomplishments to show to their own population, which means an end to the resettlement policy and to several other things. After all, if the moderates have no successful achievements to show to their people, the radicals will triumph. This must be the starting point of a new Israeli policy."@en1
|
| lpv:videoURI |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples