RAMALLAH, December 1, 2015
(WAFA) - PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat slammed Israel’s Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Decision to “exclude Europe from the Peace Process”,
following European Union (EU’s) decision to label settlement products an
insistence on blackmailing the international community.
On the 11th of
November, the EU, in ‘Interpretative
Notice’ on indication of origin of goods from the territories occupied by
Israel since June 1967 insisted that “some goods produced on land seized in the
1967 war must be labeled “made in settlements.”
Following the EU’s
announcement, Netanyahu ‘ordered a suspension of diplomatic contact with the EU
with regards to the peace process’, the Times of Israel quoted a
Hebrew-language Foreign Ministry statement.
According to the Middle East
Monitor, Israel's Foreign Ministry slammed the EU’s decision as
'discriminatory.”
The Middle East Monitor reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi
Hotovely previously said in an interview with the Times of Israel in September
that ‘labeling settlement goods would be a 'red line' for Israel.’
“She warned that the EU
could be excluded from the peace process and that economic ties could also be
downgraded. She added that Israel would try to convince major European
countries to ignore the guidelines.”
“We see it as a boycott of
Israel for all intents and purposes. We view it as a slippery slope. It’s
simply a sweeping disqualification of Israel,' she said.
Commenting on the Israeli
decision to exclude Europe from the peace process, PLO Erekat, in statement issued on Monday, said that “[Netanyahu’s] goal is clear; to
maintain his culture of impunity in order to continue violating international
law. “
“Israeli settlements are
not just a violation of international law but a war crime. Labeling settlement
products is the least the European Union could do with such products, he
maintained.
“While we welcomed this
decision, we insist that this is an insufficient step since such products
should be banned,|” added the PLO official.
Erekat noted that, ‘Israel
has violated all signed agreements, stopped negotiations and erased the principles
of the two-state solution. Netanyahu’s political program of one state and two
systems, Apartheid, is what we have left on the ground.”
Erekat described the
Israeli government’s threat to “exclude Europe for whatever is left of the so
called peace process, as a disingenuous step from a government that has
repeatedly rejected the two-state solution, both in their political program and
on the ground.”
Erekat addressed Netanyahu
saying that, “Because of your policies there is no peace process for anyone to
be involved in. Europe will miss nothing with your new public relations
campaign.”
T.R.
