The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is at a critical juncture and
the EU and its member states should recognise Palestinian
statehood, according to members of Parliament’s Palestine
delegation. Led by delegation chair Neoklis Sylikiotis, the five
members visited Jerusalem and the West Bank on 20-24 February. In
addition MEPs discussed the Israeli government’s recent decision to
retroactively legalise settlements illegally built on Palestinian
land during a plenary debate on 14 February.
While in Jerusalem and the West Bank on 20-24 February,
the cross-party delegation of
MEPs met Palestinian Authority officials, communities at
risk of forced displacement and civil society organisations
battling Israel’s settlement expansion. This June marks half a
century of Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
Speaking in Jerusalem on 23 February, delegation chair Neoklis
Sylikiotis, a Cypriot member of the GUE/NGL group, described
Israel’s recent decision to build 3,000 new settler homes in the
West Bank and to retroactively legalise thousands of illegal
settlements as “a new violation of the rights of Palestinians to
self-determination”.
Settlements and demolitions
Members visited the Ofer military court, Aida refugee camp in
Bethlehem and the Khan al-Ahmar Bedouin community which is set to
be demolished by Israeli authorities. In 2016
alone, 6,088
Palestinians were affected by demolitions in parts of
the West Bank under Israeli civil and security control.
In meetings with Palestinian Authority officials, MEPs urged the
implementation of the new Palestinian unity deal reached in
January, which was an agreement between Fatah which currently
administers (parts of) the West Bank and Hamas which controls
Gaza to form a unity government. However, the
five MEPs were denied access to Gaza by Israeli
authorities.
Two-state solution “further away than ever”
During a plenary
debate on 14 February, members also discussed recent
developments in the Middle East peace process, including the
retroactive legalisation of Israeli settlements. Speaking on
behalf of Malta’s presidency of the EU Council, Minister Ian Borg
reiterated the EU’s commitment to a two-state solution, namely
Israel and Palestine existing side by side as separate states.
Belgian ALDE member Hilde Vautmans also condemned the Israeli law
retroactively legalising settlements and described the two-state
solution as “further away than ever”.
Victor BoÅŸtinaru, a Romanian member of the S&D group, urged
MEPs not to give up on the peace process: “The two-state solution
and the mutual recognition of the 1967 borders, with mutually
agreed land swaps and Jerusalem as the capital of both states,
remains the only hope for peace.”
Cristian Dan Preda, a Romanian EPP member and vice-chair of the
human rights subcommittee, encouraged MEPs to not only focus on
the issue of settlements: “It is a very complex, multifaceted
situation with other issues such as security, borders, Jerusalem,
refugees and so on. By concentrating on one single aspect of the
conflict, we are alienating Israel, an important partner and the
only democracy in the region."
Dutch ECR member Bas Belder, vice-chair of Parliament’s Israel
delegation, accused the EU of being responsible for the
“lingering impasse” in the region and described it as a “major
mistake” to “look at the future of the Palestinian state taking
as binding a border which was based on a temporary ceasefire”.
French Greens/EFA Pascal Durand reminded MEPs that the EU does
not recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and also
criticised that EU labelling guidelines for products imported
from illegal Israeli settlements are not being fully
implemented.
