Brussels, 02/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - Reactions have been strong on both sides to the debate which is scheduled to be held at the Parliament session on 4 December on relations with Israel. The European Parliament has been submerged with messages from NGOs demanding a firmer attitude to be taken towards Israel. Messages call for this opportunity to be seized to send a message of firmness to Israel at the same time as promising it may have almost member state status. The pressure on MEPs is such that Véronique De Keyser (PES, Belgium), who is rapporteur on assent to the EU-Israel protocol, is calling for the vote to be deferred. In her eyes, the atmosphere has become far too electric to allow a debate to be held serenely. She says: “It is increasingly difficult in this sensitive area to be able to speak clearly without being accused of anti-Semitism and being subject to odious mail campaigns. One of our Cypriot deputies, Marios Matsakis, recently fell victim to this (…) and his is not an isolated case. Several of us are having to live through this. Despite the very strong pressure upon us, we in this European Parliament want to stand firm for freedom of expression, in full confidence”.
Marios Matsakis, Cypriot ALDE member, complains of being targeted by a venomous campaign for having criticised Israeli policy, when speaking during a plenary session. He says: “I am well aware, as you all should be, that whatever is said in this Chamber regarding Israel gets scrutinised very meticulously by the Israeli authorities (…). The only action taken is to attack, in various ways, those MEPs who criticised in any way, shape or form Israeli wrongdoings”. During the plenary on 20 November, he spoke of his “personal experience” during recent debates in the House on Palestinian prisoners in Israel, saying: “I used strong language to attack the Israeli government officials. I did this in order to stress to them that their stance on the Palestinian prisoners was - and still is, I'm afraid - utterly inhuman and criminal. Subsequent to my speech, not only did the ambassador of Israel to Cyprus embark on a political defamation campaign against me but, more permanently, the speaker of the Knesset, Ms Dalia Itzik, wrote an official letter of complaint against me personally to the president of the European Parliament”. Matsakis pointed out that Mr Pöttering had “replied as diplomatically as he could … defending the right of free speech of MEPs in debates taking place in this House”. He told EUROPE that he had sent an “open letter” in these same terms to the president of the Knesset. (F.B./transl.jl)