Brussels, 28/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said, on Tuesday 27 September, that she deplored the decision taken by the Israeli authorities to continue settlement expansion in East Jerusalem with the construction of approximately 1,000 new housing units in Gilo. “I call on the Israeli authorities to reverse this plan”, she said in a press release. She stated that the EU had repeatedly called on Israel to end all settlement activity, “including natural growth”, and to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001. “Settlement activity threatens the viability of an agreed two-state solution and raises questions about Israel's stated commitment to resume negotiations”, she argued, noting that the Quartet had called on both Israelis and Palestinians to refrain from all provocative action.
On Tuesday 27 September, during a European Parliament plenary session debate in Strasbourg on the Palestinian application to join the UN, MEPs condemned Israel's “unilateral” decision. Daniel Cohn-Bendit (Greens/EFA) called on Ashton not simply to regret the Israeli move but to condemn it. (CG/transl.rt)