SW MEP calls for stand against violence in Gaza
As violence continues to take its devastating toll on Palestinians in Gaza, Green MEP for the South West, Molly Scott Cato, has expressed her deep disappointed at the outcome of a European Parliamentary resolution on the conflict.
The ‘Escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine’ resolution was not supported by Molly or England’s other two Green MEPs Keith Taylor and Jean Lambert. The final resolution did not contain key demands put forward by the Green Group in the Parliament. Greens wanted the text to include:
- reference to a comprehensive UN arms embargo applied to all parties in the region
- assurances that EU-Israel relations be conditional upon strict respect for international human rights and humanitarian law
- the immediate lifting of the blockade on the Gaza Strip
- the EU to fulfill its responsibilities as an influential player and to take a clear and comprehensive peace initiative for the region
Molly also pushed hard for the inclusion of a call to terminate Tony Blair’s role as Special Envoy for the Middle East, describing his record as one ‘marred by conflicts of interest’. This was also rejected from the final text.
Molly said: “It is completely unacceptable that densely populated areas in Gaza are deemed to be legitimate targets. We need a far stronger message to come out of the Parliament which condemns unequivocally all violence, international human rights violations and breaches of humanitarian law. We are pleased that Greens in the US have called on their government to stop using its United Nations veto to provide immunity for Israeli breaches of international law and for diplomatic ties with Israel to be cut if the Israeli government does not end military operations in Gaza. These are the sort of firm actions needed to end the appalling cycle of violence that is killing hundreds of Palestinian civilians, many of them children.”
A resolution jointly put forward by four of the largest groups in the European Parliament was eventually adopted.
