Middle East roadmap for peace effectively torn up

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release

Friday February 10, 2006 12:53

by cafe - labour

failure of the European Union to engage with the relatively moderate recent statement from Hamas, which suggested a role for the international community in the initiation of talks, which, taking as their starting point, the international legal position of the 1967 borders, and which could lead to recognition of the state of Israel by Hamas, is deeply disappointing - says Michael D.Higgins

The European Union is looking on at the ending of the proposals for peace in the Middle East known as the Road Map for peace. Whatever opportunity existed for the European Union as a member of the Quartet which proposed such peace proposals is rapidly evaporating.

The recent statement by the Acting Prime Minister of Israel that it intends to retain East Jerusalem, extend its borders to include the Jordan Valley and retain over two thirds of the illegal settlements in the West Bank, and that it will do so within a period of two years, by unilateral action if necessary, is such as to entirely negate the final stage of the Road Map.

The failure of the European Union to engage with the relatively moderate recent statement from Hamas, which suggested a role for the international community in the initiation of talks, which, taking as their starting point, the international legal position of the 1967 borders, and which could lead to recognition of the state of Israel by Hamas, is deeply disappointing.

The deterioration in conditions is such as to make impossible the advancement of peace proposals. In the run into elections in Israel, the inaction of the international community will be construed by Palestinians as the acceptance of the illegal settlements and the ignoring of the ruling of the International Court of Justice in relation to the construction of the illegal wall/barrier on Palestinian land.

Condemning future generations of Palestinians to poverty, dispossession and humiliation on the one hand, and future generations of Israeli citizens to insecurity on the other, is something from which governments of the European Union, in particular, and indeed the international community generally, will not be able to escape the judgement of history as constituting one of the greatest moral evasions of our time.

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Comments (2 of 2)

"you're not the only Higgins now" & the other one is better informed.

by iosaf mac diarmada

Fri Feb 10, 2006 15:04

barcelona

00 34 934 120 021

Actually I can't agree with mr Higgins and would like to point out to the reader that the Oslo accords hence the term "road map" are not a European Union initiative. The European Union's initiative on middle east peace was set out in the Barcelona declaration of 1995. The 10th anniversary of that declaration saw the "first mediterranean social forum" on bloomsday 2005 in Barcelona where several thousand delegates of the European and mediterranean left with special guests from Western Sahara took part in information exchange, seminars, and conferences.
It was during that meeting that delegates from the indymedia groups of the mediterranean meeting with the collectives of Israel, Beirut and Jerusalem suggested the global adoption of the term "aparthied state" for both Israel proper and the occupied territories. The groups, collectives, political parties present in their final statement expressed continuing support and solidarity with the democratic process in the Levant and Maghreb.

That was on the "left" side of things, but obviously to the left of Irish Labour, but truly representative of the socialist movement in Europe proper.

On the EU side of things, the 10th anniversary of the "Barcelona declaration" saw the leaders of all states in the Mediteranean with the exception of Israel who were represented at a lower level assemble to agree a "definition of terrorism" which did not exclude "the right to self-determination".
The result was less satisfactory than had been hoped, but the declaration and process is not dead.

The current attitude of the EU under the Austrian presidency to peace in the middle east has been characterised by concerns on security, a result of the evacauation of the European observer mission to the West Bank, but there has been no statement of refusal to work with a Hamas government.
Rather to the contrary there have been in the last days at the Russia/Spain summit clear indications of a willingness to co-operate with a Hamas government and facilitate its transformation from a party of armed struggle to one of "conflict resolution". The invitation of mr Putin for Hamas to visit Moscow issued yesterday has been welcomed by Jordan a regional guarantor of the Oslo accords, the Camp David accords and the Barcelona declaration.

The true acid test of European attitude to the evolution of Palestinian statehood as a remedy to the internecine conflict lies in the support given by European states (if not by the central eurocracy) in the last weeks to continued funding of the PA and pressure placed on the Israeli central bank under its director (appointed 2005) Mr Fischer. Fischer has made it clear he wishes to honour the comitments of the israeli state to the palestinian authority on the payment of fiscal revenue at Israeli controlled frontiers in Gaza and West bank and with Egypt. This amounts to 40% of the budgetary requirements of the Palestinian Authority.

links of interest for any Higgins :-
http://www.iemed.org/euromed/edeclaracio.php
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/69020
"your time to bloom has gone michael, the left will not coalesce with the right happily again"

peace or appeasment

by TheTroll - NA

Sun Feb 12, 2006 19:45

"Israel proper"??? What makes Zionist occupation of some Palestinian lands "proper"? Is it the fact that western interloapers have given Zionists thier blessings for Zionists to be murderous thieves of SOME Palestinian lands, BUT NOT ALL Palestinian lands?

Zionist occupation of ANY Palestinian lands is not "proper". It might be appeased by interloaper power brokerSS. But it is NOT "proper", even with YOUR blessings.

There has never been a "road map to peace" because Zionist occupation of Palestinian lands is no more "peace" than Nazi occupation of Denmark was equatble with peace. Or Brittish occupation of Ireland. Was that "peace" to the vanquished locals of Ireland?

There has been a road map to appeasment when Palestinians elected Fatah. And the goal was Vichy Palestine. The Nazi's "generous offer" to the vanquished French people was over 1/3 of France for a French STATE. Zionists "offered" less than 1/6 of Zionist occupied palestine for a Palestinian STATE. Nazis were more than twice as "generous" to the people they occupied than Zionists are to palestinians. But Fatah controle of Palestinians just saw Zionists stealing MORE Palestinian lands and murdering MORE Palestinians who resisted the ZIonist's continuing theft of Palestinian lands as well as murdering Palestinians who were just in the wrong place as defined by the murderous thieving Zionist crusaders.

If the murderous theft of SOME Palestinian lands is "proper", who gets to decide how much is "proper"? You??? DO you atribute to yourselves the authority of Satan? Do you atribute to yourselves authorities that Jesus denied even unto himself??? Just who do you think you are?

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Middle East roadmap for peace effectively torn up

Comments (2 of 2)