South East MEP In Palestine To Meet President Abbas
27 April 2007
The Green MEP will travel to Palestine as part of a European Parliamentary delegation investigating the impact of the EU’s refusal to pay financial assistance to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
The Green Party MEP said: “During my visit to Palestine I will meet senior Hamas and Fatah figures and representatives of the UN as well as president Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. I will ask what the EU can be doing immediately to alleviate poverty and promote peaceful dialogue between the Palestinian Authority and Israel .
“I will also seek news of BBC journalist Alan Johnston and put pressure on both Mr Abbas and Mr Haniyeh to intervene and secure his swift, safe, release.”
The suspension of aid payments to the Palestinian Authority is creating poverty and hunger across the occupied territories. Poverty has increased by 30 per cent since payments were suspended, public services are in meltdown as hospitals are starved of funding and the economy, which has shrunk by 10 per cent in the last year alone, faces collapse.
Dr Lucas said: “A humanitarian disaster is unfolding amid the chaos of the conflict-ridden occupied Palestinian territories – and the EU is, in part, to blame.
“The EU first suspended payments in April last year following the unexpected and overwhelming victory of Hamas in elections to the Palestinian parliament, demanding Hamas recognise Israel, and renounce violence.
“Although the EU established a Temporary International Mechanism, which has managed to support some of the poorest people, it has been unable to prevent the growing humanitarian crisis caused by the financial boycott.
“Following the creation of a new ‘unity government’ and recent statements made by Hamas there is no possible justification for refusing to restore full financial assistance payments, in line with previous agreements, immediately.
“We must also put pressure on other key donors, like the US and Canada , to do the same, and on the Israeli government to resume payments of with-held tax collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.”
The delegation will hold a series of meeting at the Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah before visiting a hospital in Gaza and visiting the checkpoints dividing Hebron’s old town from neighbouring Israeli settlements.
Dr Lucas added: “The EU must restore its Palestinian funding in full, or risk completely undermining the causes of peace and democracy in the Middle East . Depriving the people of Palestine of their basic human rights just to punish their democratic choices is not a path to peace.”
ENDS
