Brussels, 24/04/2002 (Agence Europe) - European External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, who was speaking at the debate on the Middle East situation, on Wednesday at the European Parliament, said they must analyse the reports on the destruction of the Jenin refugee camp by the Israeli army, which sometimes showed a complete lack of regard and respect for human life. He said it is not in Israel's interest to leave the questions raised about Jenin unanswered. Israel, he said, is a democratic society that must ensure its behaviour at international level is worthy of it, without conditions. This, he continued, is what is understood by "rule of law". He recalled the recognised integrity of the members of the fact-finding mission proposed by the UN, whose composition was challenged by Israel on Tuesday.
The Commissioner implicitly challenged the security argument invoked by Israel when he raised questions on the usefulness of destroying the Palestinian Education, Agriculture, Land and Statistics Ministries. He said he was extremely concerned about the security vacuum left in Palestinian towns after the Israeli withdrawal where scenes of lynching have taken place, and about the weakening of the Palestinian Authority's power and its ability to control terrorists. The Commissioner also called for total, unhampered access for emergency humanitarian aid in the refugee camps and an assessment to be made of the damage. Speaking on behalf of the Council, the Spanish Foreign Minister, Josep Piqué, considered it regrettable that the Israeli authorities prevented the Member State representations from going on site to see what is happening from the humanitarian point of view.
The European Union's commitment to rebuild the infrastructures, consolidate the Palestinian Authority and strengthen the economic base cannot, however, come in a "political void", Commissioner Patten insisted. He recalled to those who speak of the Marshall Plan for the Middle East that this Plan had begun when the bombing stopped. The EU cannot invest in rebuilding without having the assurance of both parties that its efforts will not be dashed. The meeting of donors, to be held in Oslo this week, is expected to identify the most pressing needs. It is still too soon to assess the full extent of the damage, he remarked, but it is clear that, even for covering the more immediate needs, several million dollars will be needed. He pointed out that the Commission, whose "resources do have a limit", will go before the Parliament once needs have been evaluated but, he repeated, it is necessary to examine the political context in which building is to take place. Josep Piqué said there is "no military solution" to the situation and that "we must find a political solution at all cost". He stressed that a "peace conference" should not reopen what was achieved in recent years in Madrid and Oslo.
During the debate, the co-president of the Greens Group, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, exclaimed that the UN can solemnly declare the Palestinian State "without delay" as it had declared the Israeli State, and that NATO can "guarantee the integrity" of that State. How can Israeli society be reassured so that it "frees itself of the Sharon government", which does not want peace? he asked. He went on to say: "We have an International Tribunal in The Hague", he said. If Sharon has committed crimes, massacres, then he must be brought before this Tribunal, but the Palestinians must also be taken there if they send young people to the massacre, he said.
In a very short intervention, Jean-Marie Le Pen (Front National) said that no-one "with any heart" could fail to be "grieved" by what is happening, by the "outbreak of violence at the birthplace of Jesus" in the holy places that have been protected by France "for centuries". "France and Europe have been absent since they placed themselves under the orders of the United States in the person of Javier Solana, former NATO Secretary General", he added.
After the booing that Mr Le Pen received when taking the floor in plenary, Parliament President Pat Cox called on his colleagues for silence, inviting them to "protest in silence if they wished to do so". French sovereignist Paul Coûteaux disapproved of remarks made during the debate by Pat Cox who had yesterday criticised the results of elections in France, considering this to be a "serious lack of impartiality on the part of the president of a supranational institution".
During the debate, many MEPs took the floor to stress that the rise in anti-semitism in Europe must not be invoked by Israel to justify its policy and its rejection of European positions. Spanish Socialist Enrique Barón Crespo, Danish Karin Rijs-Jorgensen (ELDR) and Ulla Sandbaek (EDD), Dutch Baastian Belder (EDD) and Lousewies van der Laan (ELDR) thus stressed that Europe must do something to fight against anti-semitism, but that the argument of the rise in anti-semitism cannot be used to describe the EU as the enemy of Israel. Swedish Green member Per Gahrton noted for his part the acts of racism and segregation that occurred during the visit of the EP delegation in the West Bank on Monday and Tuesday. Such acts would justify action comparable to the boycott against South Africa or the intervention in Kosovo, he said.
Several MEPs taking part in the visit noted acts of systematic destruction on the part of the Israeli army at the refugee camp in Jenin, and in other towns of the West Bank. Such acts "have nothing to do with Israel's security", they said. EUROPE will come back with more details on this visit.