Europaudvalget 2011-12
EUU Alm.del Bilag 564
Offentligt
Palestinian National AuthorityMinistry of Foreign AffairsStatement by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign AffairsIn Reference to EU-Israel Association Council MeetingIsrael Must Be Held Accountable and Not RewardedJuly 24th, 2012
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the European Union to reconsider itspractical upgrading of its relations with Israel. Despite the freeze of the upgrade, the EU andIsrael committed last year to further explore the opportunities offered under the current ActionPlan and to pursue technical talks to identify areas for future cooperation. We believe that thepractical implementation of such decisions will lead to the enhancement of their bilateralrelations and will contribute to further integration of Israel into the EU.
We call on the EU to adopt measures that will ensure that the freeze of the upgrade continues,especially at the practical level. In June 2009, that upgrade of the relations was suspendedbecause the context was deemed unfavorable. Today, with the situation reaching dramatic levelsof unprecedented settlement expansion and settler violence; theft and exploitation of resources;removal of communities; house demolitions; the continuation of the construction of the Wall; theclosure of Gaza and the destruction of projects in Area C and elsewhere in the OccupiedTerritory; the change of the demographic composition of the City of Jerusalem and denyingPalestinians access to it; the prolonged use of administrative detention without charges or trial,the transfer of detainees into Israeli detention facilities and the practice of extra-judicial killingsand torture, not to mention the Israeli refusal to adhere to the principles of the Quartet includingfreezing settlement construction, as agreed requirement for the resumption of negotiations, thecontext is far more unfavorable for any kind of upgrade whether it be official or practical. Wetherefore urge the EU to reconsider its relations with Israel as an occupying power. Israel mustnot be given any preferential treatment and must not be allowed further integration into the EUeconomic, social, political and scientific structures especially as it persists with its violations of
international law, refuses to end its occupation of the Palestinian Territory and continues to denyPalestinians their right to self-determination.
In the face of all of this, the EU must bring Israel into compliance with Article II of the EU-IsraelAssociation Agreement, which conditions relations between the parties as well as the provisionsof the agreement itself on the respect for human rights and democratic principles. Meanwhile, theagreement itself applies to the Territory of the State of Israel and does not apply to the OccupiedTerritory and therefore excludes settlement products. The EU states must find mechanisms toensure the exclusion of settlement products from receiving any preferential treatment andsettlements from benefiting from EU funds. In this regard, the EU-Israel ACAA agreementrepresents a stark contradiction to the Association Agreement and to international law.Palestinians have hoped that the EU-Israel Association Council meeting will be an opportunity toemphasize the Council Conclusions on the Middle East of May 14th, 2012 and to press on Israelto respect its commitments according to international law and the agreements signed.Israeli practices and policies towards the Palestinians endanger the prospects of peace in theregion and undermine the two-state solution. The EU as an active member of the Quartet and aresponsible player under international law must contribute to “the strict observance and thedevelopment of international law, and in particular of the principles of the UN Charter”. Thus,the Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the EU to adopt effective steps to encourage Israel tocomply with international law and to safeguard the two state-solution by using all its politicaland economic leverage to put an end to the unlawful Israeli occupation and illegal settlements.
