GUE/NGL MEPs met Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al Hamdallah this morning in a meeting in Ramallah.

The Prime Minister, who did praise the efforts of John Kerry during the peace negotiations, said that international diplomatic efforts were in vain when Israel disrupts the negotiations. Israel claimed that divisions between Palestinians mean Israel has no partner to negotiate with, yet once Fatah and Hamas united to form a consensus government the Israelis walked away from the table, accusing Fatah of working with 'terrorists'.

Once again this demonstrates that Israel was never serious about negotiations or establishing a Palestinian state. UN resolutions are applied all over the globe but not here: there have been 10 UN resolutions all supporting the 1967 borders yet they are not applied.

The Prime Minister called on the international community, particularly the United States, to agree on a timeframe within which Israel must end the occupation, dismantle the apartheid wall, move settlers back to their own territory as defined by the green line and afford the Palestinians the dignity and respect to govern themselves as international law decrees.

Martina Anderson MEP said: “We GUE/NGL MEPs will double our efforts to get the 4th Geneva convention and international law implemented for Palestinians and will work with other MEPs to push for a suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement; article 2 of this agreement can be invoked when there are clear breaches of human rights.”

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Emily Macintosh +32 470 85 05 08
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