JERUSALEM, February 18, 2017 (WAFA) - Marking 50 years of Israeli occupation, a cross-party delegation of the European Parliament‘s (EP) Delegation for Relations with Palestine starts Monday a four day visit to Palestine during which its members will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas and other high-level Palestinian Authority officials as well as civil society, students and peace activists.
The delegation will also meet with communities at risk of forcible displacement and with civil society organizations battling the ramped-up settlement expansion, according to a press release.
"Settlement expansion and the recently-enacted regularization law constitute a concrete threat to the two-state solution supported by the European Union and the international community, as evidenced by UN Security Council resolution 2334," Delegation Chair Neoklis Sylikiotis stated. "Settlements are an obstacle to peace as they are threatening the contiguity of a future Palestinian state."
The so-called regularization law, or land-grab law, was recently enacted by the Israeli parliament to legalize settlers’ takeover of private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
The five-person EP delegation will be discussing in-depth with various sectors of society how to move towards achieving the two-state solution, and how the EU can support this goal, said the press release.
"I would like to reiterate our support to the recognition of a viable independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the 1967 borders, living in peace alongside Israel," stated Sylikiotis. "The EU must exert pressure on Israel in order to put an end to its settlement, to lift the occupation and commit to a roadmap for peace and two-state solution. We want peace for the Palestinian people, the Israeli people, and all the people of the Middle East."
The delegation, which will be led by delegation chair Neoklis Sylikiotis (GUE/NGL, Cyprus) and composed of 4 other members: Margrete Auken (vice-chair of delegation, Greens, Denmark), Brando Benifei (S&D, Italy), Ivo Vajgl (ALDE, Slovenia) and Angela Vallina (GUE/NGL, Spain), will conclude its visit on Thursday with a press conference in Jerusalem.
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