By Luisa Morgantini - Vice-President of the European Parliament
Strasbourg, 17th January 2008
"23 Palestinians killes and other 55 injured, children, women and men, by Israeli raids in only 2 days: Where is the EU strong condemnation of these murders?" - asked Luisa Morgantini, Vice-President of the European Parliament expressing a deep concern regarding the escalation of violence of these days in Palestine and Israel.
"It is really astonishing - added Luisa Morgantini - that EU High Representative Javier Solana didn't say clearly that this Israeli policy is killing all hopes for peace and undermines the tenacious efforts by President Mahmoud Abbas and PM Salam Fayyad in seeking support and unity in their exhausted, occupied and besieged people.
Solana together with the entire International Community should strongly call on the Israeli government to stop this violence and the collective punishment towards the civil population in Gaza Strip and West Bank, as well as firmly reaffirm that all the settlements expansion's policy on the Palestinian land of West Bank and East Jerusalem must be immediately freezed: these are the urgent and urged steps for a just peace, as Annapolis' purposes reaffirmed.
Of course at the same time, the rockets from Gaza Strip on the Israelu town of Sderot must be stopped: they are aiming to kill civilian population and are a sign of impotence and not of resistance actuated by extremist groups of Palestinians. Besides, I feel a deep pain for the young Ecuadorian volunteer killed by Palestinian extremist fire while he was working in a kibbutz in Ein Hashlosha. But the tragedy goes on everyday in the occupied Palestine: 17 Gazans killed by Israeli forces in less than four hours, many others died in the following hours, including civilians and children, and not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank.
With all this blood, with all this deaths nobody can be absolved for his silence: EU, as the Quartet policy, also is responsible and must break this silence, taking the consequent commitment: to end the siege in Gaza, to provide international protection for the civilian population, both Palestinians and Israelis, to work for the unity of the Palestinian people and for the end of occupation. This is the way to dismantle every military action taken by Palestinian extremists. But above all, this is the time to make pressures on the Israeli government to stand by their words of seeking peace and security: its policy on the ground is just destroying any possibility of peace and security for both people".
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