MPs from Europe and the Arab world call for urgent aid for Palestinian people – European Parliament press release/Non-UN document

External relations – 07-06-2006 – 20:03

MPs from Europe and the Arab world call for urgent aid for Palestinian people

Parliamentarians from around the Mediterranean called on Wednesday for the swift creation of the planned international fund to provide aid to the Palestinian people. The European Commission will present a blueprint for this fund next week to EU Foreign Ministers. Some members of the Political Committee of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, meeting in Brussels, argued that the decision to suspend direct aid to the Palestinian Authority had been taken too hastily.

Members of the European Parliament, EU national parliaments and parliaments of the EU's ten partner countries on the rim of the Mediterranean took part in the meeting to discuss financial assistance to the Palestinian people. Representatives of the European Commission explained that the "temporary international mechanism" would be a progressive system with funds to be released according to the money available. First the sectors most in need, such as hospitals and schools, would be addressed. Then, funds would be used to pay for energy bills. And finally, social payments could be made to sections of the population currently without any income.

Véronique de Keyser (PES, BE), said that one problem was that the World Bank was not too keen on paying salaries. She stressed that the focus should not be on the immediate aid alone, but that the political situation should also be addressed. French Senator Robert del Picchia pointed out that over 150,000 Palestinian civil servants, on whom a million people depended, were now deprived of an income. Deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hassan Khreishi, described the present situation as a "siege, which may well bring down all our institutions, including the presidency". He called on the European MPs to put pressure on Israel to resume the transfers of Palestinian customs duties and taxes, which he said equalled some €60 million per month. A number of MPs did indeed call on Israel to resume these transfers as soon as possible. Commission representative Amir Motahari said the EU has  had so far transferred more money in humanitarian aid than it would normally have paid to the Palestinian Authority. He added that under the previous package only 10 per cent of the EU funding went into the payment of salaries.

The EU suspended direct aid to the Palestinian Authority following the election victory of Hamas, which figures on the EU list of terrorist organisations, and which has not recognised the state of Israel . In early May, the UN, the US, Russia and the EU decided to channel funds directly to the Palestinian people by creating a "temporary international mechanism", which was to be developed by the EU.