mr president i rise on the issue of palestine
i note that in your earlier remarks you have been somewhat coy in your positioning on israel nine hundred palestinians dead a third of whom are children and yet we cannot find it in ourselves in this chamber to utterly condemn israeli brutality
this onslaught is not alone disproportionate it is entirely unjustified
it is not driven by israeli security needs in fact it is a cynical and clinical attack not on hamas but on the palestinian population
i think that member states now have a moral obligation to flex the full extent of their diplomatic and political muscle with israel to end this violence
tiptoeing around the israeli administration will not work it has never worked
israel must now understand that there are indeed consequences for its actions
therefore i call on all meps to demand the immediate suspension of the euro-med agreement and indeed all preferential trade arrangements between the eu and israel
equally we must resist any attempt to upgrade relations between the eu and the state of israel which lays siege on gaza and brutalises the palestinian people
the rhetoric of human rights which so often echoed this chamber must now be honoured in word and deed
that is the only prospect for a successful peace process in the middle east
