mr president i am happy to say that i was one of those who was part of this parliament's official delegation to the plc two weeks ago and we visited the al-kurd family
at that point they were still hopeful that the israeli courts would deliver a just decision
it is regrettable that they had a vain hope and that they have now been completely evicted from their home and not only that have been removed from the immediate area of their home where they were staying in a tent
it is difficult to maintain any shred of hope that a sustainable two-state solution is still possible given the war of attrition against the palestinian people which we witnessed on our recent visit and which this eviction is a reflection of
it is quite appalling that we are at this point in time even considering upgrading relations with israel when there are so many breaches of international law families being evicted settlements being put in place
eleven thousand palestinian prisoners are in jail
forty elected representatives of the palestinian people including the speaker are in jail as are three hundred children under the age of eighteen including children as young as twelve years of age
this is not acceptable from a state which claims to be a democratic state and which claims to be complying with the norms of international law
it is not the case
the eu must insist upon the israeli government restoring the al-kurd family to their home
israel must be told in no uncertain terms that if it wants to continue to do business with the eu it must comply with democratic and humanitarian norms in practice as well as rhetorically
certainly any idea that the eu should upgrade its relations with israel as some member states are proposing should be dropped so long as injustices of this kind continue
i would like to conclude with a point of order
i think that the proposal here of oral amendments on a thursday afternoon amendments which do not reflect the facts on the ground and which do not have the support of the joint authors of this resolution is an abuse of the ability to place oral amendments
i believe that this matter should be looked at by parliament's secretariat and proposals brought forward to ensure that it does not happen again
