Brussels, 15/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - The ambassador from the Arab League to the EU, Abdelwahab Derbal, said that he had experienced “a feeling of humiliation” during his reading of the EU's declaration on Gaza, adopted on Monday 14 June. He said that this “lacked respect for the victims of Gaza”.
Derbal said that the European declaration is “in perfect harmony with the joint declaration of the three European ministers for foreign affairs” (Kouchner, Moratinos and Frattini, published in Le Figaro on 11 June), entitled, “Gaza after the tragedy”, which, according to Derbal, “defends the aggressor and not the victim”. The commission of inquiry, as recommended by the EU in its declaration, will be a kind of smokescreen, according to the Arab League ambassador. He pointed out that a commission of inquiry worthy of respect had to be “neutral and the aggressor should not be part of it … it must be international because the problem is, by definition, international”. Finally, he said that “the EU should not contribute to reducing the Palestinian question, which is a problem regarding people and the state, to just a question of humanitarian aid and charity. European blindness must not continue in this direction”. (F.B./transl.fl)