Euromed MPs issue strong call to Palestinians and Israelis to respect past commitments in the peace process – European Parliament press release/Non-UN document

Euromed MPs issue strong call to Palestinians and Israelis to respect past commitments in the peace process

The Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly ended its second annual session with a call to the future Palestinian and Israeli governments to respect past commitments regarding the peace process. In a final declaration, the EMPA also "condemned the offence" caused by the Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed as well as "the violence which their publication provoked".

The final declaration, which was approved by acclamation, the future Palestinian government was also urged to respect the 2002 Beirut Declaration of the Arab League, calling for peace with Israel. The EMPA said it will strive to "continue and reinforce the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue" in its midst. It therefore called on all the Euromed countries not to interrupt or sabotage the dialogue process. Visa problems for Palestinian delegates are, however, unlikely to occur in the coming year, said Tunisian parliament speaker Fouad Mebazaa at a press conference following the session, as the Tunisian parliament is taking over the EMPA presidency from the European Parliament and the next meeting will take place in Tunis.

Before the adoption of the final declaration,  three resolutions drawn up by the EMPA's political, economic and cultural committees were adopted, also by acclamation. European Parliament president Josep Borrell, who had chaired the Euromed Parliamentary Assembly since March last year, handed over the gavel to Mr Mebazaa.  He said he "still did not fully understand all the complexities of the Mediterranean, which is a concentrate of all the problems facing humanity." He said that he was proud to have met and worked with his colleagues from the southern Mediterranean, adding that "we are condemned to live together, much more closely than we do now."

Resolutions adopted

The political resolution adopted by the Euromed plenary expresses concern about "unilateral initiatives" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and condemns "the recent events in Jericho", when Israeli forces stormed a Palestinian prison. Regarding the Danish cartoons, MEPs and members of parliament from the 25 EU member states as well as the ten Euromed partner countries (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey) strongly condemned "any offence against religious values" and urged governments "to ensure respect for religious beliefs (…) and to promote the values of tolerance, freedom and multiculturalism".  The resolution also defends the freedom of expression as a fundamental value, which should however respect the rights and values of others. The Euromed parliamentarians called on "governments and political leaders to refrain from making any declaration or speech which might bring to mind the expression 'clash of civilisation'."

The resolution on economic and social affairs says that illiteracy is one of the obstacles facing development in the south and calls for education to be upgraded. It insists on the need to review the content of teaching programmes in Euromed countries which "include caricatures and half-truths about some of their partners" and which reinforce hostility and hatred. In the south of the Mediterranean, more attention should be paid to reforms and measures which are required to attract European investment. The EMPA members advocated cooperation in energy supply, including easier funding of infrastructure between North and South and between South and South. The resolution on cultural affairs calls for greater efforts to fight poverty, for an integrated strategy to tackle clandestine migration and for civic integration of migrants with respect for their cultural heritage. It welcomes the adoption of European legislation on a common procedure for asylum seeker assessment.

Debate

In the morning, the Euromed MPs held a wide-ranging debate. On the Danish cartoons, Egyptian parliament speaker Ahmed Sorour said that the cartoons and other recent events showed the existence of a cultural deficit, while stressing that freedom of expression cannot be unlimited. Jordanian MP Hashem Al-Qaisi said it was not enough to deplore the cartoons, as these things might then happen again in another country. Danish MP Troels Poulsen stressed that Danish society was based on both freedom of expression and religious tolerance and that the government could not influence the media. He felt that the violent reaction to the cartoons was disproportionate.

Turkish representative Zeynep Uslu said freedom of expression was an essential value, but not a limitless freedom, something the Court of Human Rights had also stated. Freedom of expression must be exercised with respect for religions, she said. She stressed the goal of an alliance of civilisations, not a clash between them. Pasqualina Napoletano (PES, IT) said that the cartoon crisis was a real problem, but that EMPA was a lay assembly: "We must separate political from religious activities. We cannot allow people to divide us by using religion as a means."

Follow-up to Palestinian elections

On the absence of one Palestinian delegate, Mr Borrell explained that the Belgian authorities had refused a visa in line with rules adopted by the European Council before the Palestinian elections took place. This, he said, did not mean the EP, or the EMPA, did not recognise the election results. This issue, he said, would have to be solved to make it possible members of the Israeli and Palestinian parliaments to continue their work in the EMPA.

Hasan Khreishi, deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, called for Hamas to be removed from the EU list of terrorist organisations and for continued support for the Palestinian Authority, as “starvation will push the Palestinian people into alliances you do not wish. A hungry man is an angry man.” He also called for the publication of an EU report on discrimination against Palestinians in Jerusalem and for European companies to boycott projects such as a tram link between Israeli settlements and Jerusalem. Moroccan parliament Speaker Abdelwahad Radi said that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued to be one of the most important obstacles to better relations between the western and the Muslim world: “We will there have to talk to each other in order to achieve good neighbourliness. This conflict does not only hold our region hostage, but the entire world."

(Israeli MPs were not present for the session, owing to the imminence of their legislative elections.)

Work of EMPA

Antonios Trakatellis (EPP-ED, EL) spoke of the need for stronger economic development initiatives. An important focus for cooperation was civil protection and the prevention of natural and ecological disasters, he said, calling for the immediate installation of a tsunami early warning system. Edward McMillan Scott (EPP-ED, UK) called for "a political dimension to our Assembly by gathering Members of the House in political families, as the European Parliament has done over the last 60 years. We should go beyond geographical borders". Carlos Carnero Gonzales (PES, ES) agreed, noting that "the socialists of both the EU and the Mediterranean, 40 Members in total, sat together last night."

27/03/2006

President : Josep Borrell (PES, ES)

Euro Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly – Plenary Session