A delegation of Members of the European Parliament headed by Cypriot MEP Kyriacos Triantaphyllides that’s currently visiting Gaza has invited all elected Palestinian parliamentarians to visit the European Parliament, seated in Strasbourg, next spring.
Triantaphyillides told Reuters that,
- “We don’t care who they are as long as they are members of the Legislative Council…We don’t ask if they are members of Hamas or members of Fatah. The PLC was elected in 2006 and it was democratically elected.”
Yes, indeed it was. But ever since that election– which was certified as free and fair by, among others, EU election monitors and the US-based Carter Center– European government have followed the US and Israel in their quite anti-humane and shameful campaign of punishing the entire Palestinian people for the choice they expressed that day.
That is nearly three years of punishing siege (in Gaza) and campaigns of arrests, ill-treatment, draconian movement controls, and continued illegal land seizures (in the West Bank), that the Palestinians have suffered since then.
The Reuters writer editorializes a bit bit there when he/she writes that Triantaphyllides’s invitation, “appeared to be little more than a symbolic gesture since Israel has jailed some 40 of Hamas’s lawmakers and allows few Gazans to leave the coastal territory.” I think that’s interpreting the facts and editorializing in an unjustifiable way.
It’s quite possible that the MEPs’ invitation is entirely serious, and that they’ll be going back to Strasbourg and to their own countries determined to step up their campaigns to have EU governments use their undoubted trade leverage to persuade Israel to release the elected Palestinian lawmakers from their quite illegal detention.
Let’s hope so. And meantime we who are US citizens should step up our efforts to have the US government do the same.
Holding elected lawmakers in detention without charge or trial for any length of time, let alone as long as these men and women have been held? It’s barbaric.
How can any government that claims to support “democracy” not protest this practice most forcefully?
(Additional note: I see that Hamas head Khaled Meshaal has diplomatically said that Hamas “is ready for dialogue with any incoming US president.” He also said, “”I am confident that we are ready to deal with any presidential candidate, but we will always stick to our rights. We acknowledge that the United States is powerful, but we are more powerful on our territory.”)
Interesting news given that Ms. Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, ousted by the US, who also was intimidated by right-wing students at Emory (leading to her lecture being cancelled some time ago), spoke about the conditions of Gaza today-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7708670.stm
I’m sure that Israel would be exceedingly accommodating toward a request for Palestinian legislators, even the jailed ones, to go to Strasbourg–and never come back.
To forestall Israeli any mischief, the European Paliament should send an official delegation–clearly representing the body–to meet with Palestinian legislators in Gaza City and Ramallah. The effect would be dramatic and meaningful.
I’m sorry, but no one has ever “punished” the Palestinians for their vote. On the contrary. They voted for a party that advocated war, and they got the war that they wanted. The world, including Israel, respects Palestinian democracy.
The problem is that the Palestinians don’t respect other peoples votes. For instance, the people in the U.N. in 1948 democratically voted to establish two states there. It was a difficult solution to a difficult problem that didn’t entirely please everyone. But they voted and agreed to accept the democratically accepted plan. Why don’t the Palestinians respect this vote? Many democratically elected governments have recognized Israel. Why don’t the Palestinians respect these votes?
If the Palestinians voted for peace they could have it in hours. It’s all up to them. People need to face up to the fact that there is an active war going on, and that Hamas really, really does want to continue war with the goal of expelling all Jews from the mideast. Pretending they want peace is kinda bizarre, given the many explicit declarations of war they’ve made, both verbally and in writing.
Mike,
The Palestinians voted for Hamas, because they were stuffed of the FATA politicians. Hamas was ready to acknoledge the existence of Isarel as a matter of fact and offered an non ending cease of fire to Israel, however they rejected to recognize Israel as a precondition for the opening of negotiations. It was just common sense : you don’t give away your main card before even beginning negotiations.
The siege of Gaza is akin to war crime and a punishment of the Gazans for their vote, like it or not. It shows how much respect the Israelians, the Americans and the West have for democracy.. A democratically elected government is only accepted when it suits them.
As for the UN vote : it’s just nonsense, given the fact that the Palestinians were not part of it. They weren’t even alowed an observator status when that vote was cast.