Brussels, 23/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, will be setting out options to next Monday's EU Council of Ministers for the setting in place of a “mechanism allowing free and regular access to Gaza, except for a number of banned products”, said Pedro Serrano, the (acting) head of the European delegation at the UN, speaking on Wednesday 21 July during a debate within the Security Council at ambassadorial level.
During the meeting, held for regular stock-taking of the situation in the Middle East, Serrano spoke of European support for the efforts deployed by US Special Envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell, and expressed the hope that discussions underway between Israelis and Palestinians - albeit indirect at this stage - would result “within 24 months in an agreement that will give rise to the creation of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel and its neighbours in peace and security”, the UN press service reports. This deadline was set in March this year by the Quartet.
The European delegation took the view that in-depth discussion must begin as soon as possible on the basis of Security Council resolutions, the Madrid principles (international conference, October 1991) including that of exchanging peace for land, the roadmap, agreements sealed earlier by the parties involved, and the Arab peace initiative. According to the same source, debates gave rise to the feeling that these indirect talks launched some weeks ago, and Israel's announcement that the Gaza blockade would be relaxed, have made progress possible. The Palestinian delegate, Riyad Mansour, challenged this point of view, denying the existence of progress or improvement on the ground. “On the contrary”, he said, “the situation remains precarious and that is why measures must be taken immediately to redress the situation, failing which the opportunity to achieve peace will be lost”, Mansour said. The alternative, he said, is to “allow tension to grow worse and encourage a new cycle of violence (…) and (that) will be a greater threat to the possibility of reaching a peaceful and lasting peace”. On the other hand, his Israeli colleague, Gabriela Shalev, felt the time had come to move on to direct talks “without delay”. “Our partners and our neighbours have an essential role to play on this road and must not listen to just one version of the story”, she stressed. On the subject of the Gaza blockade, Shalev pointed out that recent measures taken by her government authorise the entry into Gaza of all goods except weapons. She also explained that, in order to achieve a lasting settlement to the conflict, it was necessary to reach mutual recognition. The recognition of a Palestinian state as a nation state for the Palestinian people also requires recognition of the Israeli state as a nation state for the Jewish people, she said.
The general opinion, as reported by the UN press services, is, however, that, if progress has indeed been made, that progress is insufficient. Both parties are accused of continuing to act in violation of international law. It was mainly the “settlement of colonies by Israel, especially in East Jerusalem” that was denounced as “incompatible with confidence-building between the parties, and is even seen as provocation”. Still according to the press service, several representatives of European countries have pointed out that the crisis caused by the Israeli attack on the humanitarian flotilla had shown that the blockade was not only cruel but also untenable and counter-productive. The head of the European delegation hoped the volume of imports would be increased but also that measures would be taken to facilitate exports, the mobility of persons and security. Mark L. Grant, representing Britain, above all deplored the expiry of the moratorium on settlement, which highlights the need to find a long term solution for a viable and independent Palestinian state. He called on Israel to extend the moratorium for an unspecified amount of time and to refrain from any measures causing provocation such as the announcement of the building of further housing in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Palestinians and the Arab states, for their part, Grant underlined, must not ignore their responsibilities and must be ready to take bold decisions. His French counterpart, Gérard Araud, said France hoped for full implementation of the presidential declaration by the Security Council on 1 June 2010 concerning the setting up of a prompt, credible and independent investigation in line with international standards on the attack against the humanitarian flotilla for Gaza. He also said he trusted that the efforts made by various players - Turkey, Israel and the UN secretary general - would allow this committee of inquiry to be set up. Pedro Serrano pointed out that the EU had called for a prompt, complete and impartial inquiry into the Israeli attack on the flotilla. (F.B./transl.jl)