the ECCP press release regarding the current situation in the Palestinian Territories.

EUROPEAN COORDINATION OF COMMITTEES AND ASSOCIATIONS FOR PALESTINE

The European Union’s role in the current crisis in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories

ECCP Press Release – Brussels, 30 June 2007

As we reflect on the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation, we are reminded of the continuing deterioration of the economic, political and social conditions in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

The dire situation on the ground, in particular in the Gaza Strip is partly explained by the economic and territorial closures. The tragedy of these days was announced long ago. The current humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip will go on deteriorating with the closure of all border crossings.

Since Hamas’s electoral victory, an inhuman embargo has been placed upon the Palestinians with Israel depriving the Palestinian Authority of its own tax revenues and even preventing humanitarian supplies such as food and medical supplies from reaching the Palestinians.

Since the elections and the boycott established on the PA, the European Union policy (allied with the U.S. and Israeli) contributed to incapacitate Palestinian institutions, to undermine faith in democracy, weaken the National Unity Government, to the collapse in Gaza and dismiss the resolution of the conflict. The current geographical and political division of the Palestinians will have very dangerous outcomes not only for the Palestinians themselves but also the whole region.
The only party that benefits from the continuation of the current crisis is the Israeli government and its occupation forces which continue to create new facts on the ground through the construction of the Wall and the establishment of settlements which undermine any possibility of a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian State within the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The European Union is accountable for the deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the escalation of violence. The EU should now recognize the failure of its policy since the Palestinian elections as it made the collapse of the Palestinian government inevitable. The present support of the United Nations, the United States and the European Union to one party over the other is unacceptable. It undermines the Palestinian unity and contributes to create division and chaos.

The objective the European Union policy must have is to impose on Israel to comply with international law and put an end to its military occupation that has been lasting for forty years in order to reach the creation of a Palestinian State.

Accordingly, the ECCP asks the European Union to act urgently:
- Vis-à-vis the Palestinian Authority:

• by taking immediate measures to prevent this crisis which threatens the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people as a whole and press for political dialogue between the Hamas and Fatah movements, as well as all other political factions;

• by calling for a Palestinian Unity Government and this time, it has to be recognized and supported financially;
- Vis-à-vis the Israeli government:

• by applying pressure on the Israeli government by every possible means so that it puts an end to the closures on the Gaza Strip, lets the aid reach Gaza, applies the Agreement on Movement and Access for the Palestinians and releases all the Palestinian Parliamentarians and the political prisoners;

• by suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement that states the respect for human rights. This suspension is to be one means at the hands of the EU to bring the Israeli government to fulfil its obligations, to dismantle its settlements and the Wall and to negotiate with the Palestinians for a just and lasting resolution of the conflict.

ECCP – ASBL (Belgian non-profitmaking organization)
Secretariat : 9, quai du Commerce – 1000 Brussels – Belgium
Tel: + 32 (0) 2 217 59 95 – Fax : + 32 (0) 2 250 12 63 – Email : eccp@skynet.be
Head office : 115, rue Stévin – 1000 Brussels – Belgium