Brussels, 11/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - 2001 Sakharov Prize winner, Nurit Peled from Israel, called on the European Parliament on Thursday 11 September, to take position against the “criminal system of occupation by Israel”, and to do something so that the “catastrophe” of Gaza might not be repeated and so that those responsible for it might be made accountable. Matthias Burchard, from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), also underlined that the parties should investigate the events and that those responsible should be made accountable. “This type of investigation must be conducted swiftly, in-depth and effectively in order to establish the facts”, he said.
Peled called on the EU member states to stop cooperating and trading with “the occupier”. “We need pressure from outside - as was the case with South Africa”, she added.
During a speech to the European Parliament's sub-committee on human rights, Peled described the situation in Gaza as a “holocaust”. “It's not a war but an ethnocide, and for the Palestinians it's a holocaust”, she said. The term “holocaust” caused a stir from the MEPs. In Peled's view, if the Europeans do not demand the end of a “system of apartheid”, it is because they are afraid of being considered anti-Semitic. “You cannot use this excuse when children are being murdered (…) Europe, which turned its back on the Jews at that time [during the Second World War] is today turning its back on the Palestinians”, Peled added.
The chair of the sub-committee on human rights, Elena Valenciano (S&D, Spain) stated that “a six-year old child who was born in Gaza has already experienced three wars”. (CG)