Intervention of Georgos Loucaides, member of the Political Bureau of the C.C. of AKEL Cyprus, on the Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
25th January 2017, Strasbourg, France
Permit me initially to express our condemnation of the recent Israeli violent operations to demolish homes in Qalansawe and in the Arab-Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran, which has resulted in two deaths and many injured, among them two members of the Joint List. The oppression and discrimination against the Arab community of Israel is unfortunately yet another aspect of the Israeli State’s reactionary policy.
Half a century after the 1967 war, Israel has not only failed to comply with International Law and UN resolutions, but has consolidated in every way the occupation through the colonization, demolitions, police violence, the thousands of political prisoners and the construction of the Wall of shame.
Perhaps the most dramatic expression of the Israeli aggression continues to be the suffering Gaza Strip which is blocked by land, sea and air. Gaza has suffered in the past decade successive deadly military operations. The 2014 attack caused destruction comparable only with the devastation of cities during the Second World War. In these attacks unspeakable war crimes were committed, such as the bombing of UN shelters where children sought refuge. The Report we have before us illustrates in a vivid way the dramatic humanitarian situation for the 1.7 million inhabitants of Gaza, who for ten years have been enclaved in an open prison of 365 square kilometers. The UN has warned that by 2020 the survival of people living in the Gaza Strip will become impossible, given that resources will literally have been exhausted. This zero-point is now just three years from now.
It is evident that Israel has deliberately chosen to keep the wound of Gaza open to maintain Gaza as a bargaining chip, but also to perpetuate the inter-Palestinian division, which obviously serves the occupation status-quo. Gaza represents a characteristic example of the policy of collective punishment pursued by Israel against the Palestinian people, in violation of International and Humanitarian Law.
At this point, I stress our strong denunciation of Israel’s refusal to allow the Rapporteur to visit Gaza. This is contrary to Israel’s obligation, as an observer of PACE, to assist the missions of our Rapporteurs.
As PACE and in general as the Council of Europe, we have a duty to send a clear message to Israel to end its inhuman and criminal blockade of Gaza and to ensure the Gaza population’s access to elementary human rights and freedoms. At the same time, European states must take concrete measures to exert pressure on Israel, such as the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the prohibition of the EU-Israel arms trade, the demand for compensation for the EU-funded projects that have been destroyed during the repeated attacks waged in Gaza and the West Bank and, finally, the implementation of the ban on imports of Israeli goods to the EU that are produced in the Israeli settlements.
