ZGram - 3/27-2002 - "More writing-on-the-wall"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

Copyright (c) 2002 - Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

March 27, 2002

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

It always lifts my heart when I can give my readers another snippet 
of good news.  Look what is happening in Europe - more "fallout" for 
America's uncritical support of Israel from half around the world!

When I showed this to Ernst, he said: 

"In the strongest terms yet, the majority of the European Union sides 
with the beleaguered Palestinians.  In many parts of the world, now 
certainly in Europe, Israel has totally squandered its once almost 
limitless supply of good will and sympathy by its brutal suppression 
and flagrant hypocrisy . 

"The tide HAS turned - it's only a matter of time!"

[START]
European Parliament Supports Palestinian Leaders

Greta Hopkins (Inter Press Service) - dated March 26, 2002

BRUSSELS, Mar 26 (IPS) - Members of the Palestinian Legislative 
Council have won strong backing in the European Parliament for their 
struggle against Israel.

Three members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) visiting 
Brussels this week asked the European Union to play honest broker in 
the bloody and drawn out war between Palestinians and Israelis. 
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) seemed largely supportive 
of their demands.

The three Palestinian leaders met MEPs and senior EU officials Monday 
and Tuesday. Two others were prevented by Israeli authorities from 
joining the delegation.

Chair of the European Parliament Delegation for relations with the 
PLC Luisa Morgantini expressed her dismay that elected 
representatives were prevented from moving freely within their 
territories and traveling abroad. ''The decisions of Sharon (Ariel 
Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel) are hindering the work of 
democratic bodies such as the European Parliament and the Palestinian 
Legislative Council,'' she said at a meeting with the Palestinian 
delegates.

The Palestinian leaders were evidently impressed with the solidarity 
and support they found in Brussels. Ibrahim Abu-Naja, leader of the 
Palestinian delegation told the meeting with MEPs: ''We will never 
forget the role of the EU in helping us to hold elections and build 
up our infrastructure. Now we ask you to do everything you can to put 
a stop to this aggression and get both sides back to the starting 
point of peace negotiations.''

Rawya Shawa, a member of the Palestinian delegation, said she had 
drawn great hope from the meetings in Brussels. ''The EU has always 
been supportive of the Palestinian cause, and the proof is in the aid 
that it has given for our infrastructure,'' she said. ''I am 
convinced that the EU position will move progressively towards 
greater support of the Palestinian people.''

Shawa said the meeting with EU commissioner for external relations 
Chris Patten had been positive. ''He promised more EU support for the 
private sector and for industrial reconstruction in Palestine,'' she 
said.

Ziad Abu-Amr, president of the PLC's political committee said: ''We 
want a strong EU standpoint which is distinct from the blind and 
biased standpoint of the United States. We want a stronger 
condemnation of the embargo imposed on the President of Palestine 
(Yasser Arafat \ and the Palestinian people.''

Several MEPs called for tough EU action against Israel. MEPs 
condemned the destruction of EU-financed infrastructure by the 
Israeli army in Palestine. European Union foreign ministers have said 
earlier they reserve the right to claim compensation from Israel for 
an estimated 17 million dollars worth of damage to EU-funded projects 
since the current Palestinian uprising began in autumn 2000.

''It is quite difficult to know how driving a bulldozer up and down 
the runway in Gaza will make it less likely for young men and women 
to strap bombs to themselves and murder people in Tel Aviv,'' Chris 
Patten said while speaking to the European Parliament's budget 
control committee last week.

But any EU claim for compensation from Israel would be fraught with 
administrative difficulties. When the EU releases funds for projects 
in Palestine, they become the property of the Palestinian Authority, 
Patten told MEPs. Aid for Palestine is also channeled directly by 
member states, each with its own legal system.

Morgantini said it is unlikely the EU can claim compensation but it 
must continue to exert pressure. ''We don't want to see any further 
damage,'' she said. ''The structures destroyed have nothing to do 
with security. Damage has been done to schools, airports and roads.''

Lousewies van der Lann, a Dutch MEP suggested that the EU could get 
around the problem in the future by keeping part ownership of such 
property. ''If the EU is not the owner, then it has no power when the 
property is destroyed,'' she said.

Morgantini said the EU could bring sanctions against Israel by 
invoking a human rights clause in the bilateral trade and aid 
association agreement. '' It is indispensable that Israel respects 
the agreements it has signed with the European Union,'' said 
Morgantini. ''Article 2 of the agreement says that if there are 
infringements of human rights, the agreement is made null and void.''

But Van der Lann said that three EU member states (Britain, Germany 
and the Netherlands) are blocking the proposed suspension of the 
association agreement with Israel. The move would need unanimous 
agreement among all 15 member states. ''The EU has no credibility if 
it does not apply its own rules,'' she said. ''We should never forget 
that behind all this legal talk there are human lives being lost 
every day.''

[END]

=====

Thought for the Day - and a beautiful one it is:

"Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves 
happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness."