MEP Urges EU To Open Hamas Talks

by Alex Sholem - Friday 21st April 2006


The leader of the Liberal Democrats in Europe this week called on the EU to open talks with Hamas just one day after a suicide bomber killed nine people in Tel Aviv.

After returning from a cross-party visit to the Palestinian Authority, Chris Davies, an MEP representing the North West, accused Israel of destroying any hope of an independent Palestinian state.

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Participants on the trip are seeking an urgent meeting with Javier Solana, the EU's High Representative on Foreign Affairs, in a bid to convince him to open dialogue with the Hamas-led PA government.

Davies said: “We should be honest. These are the racist policies of apartheid yet Israel continues to pose as a victim.

“I visited Auschwitz last year, and it is very difficult to understand why those whose history is one of such terrible oppression appear not to care that they have themselves become oppressors.”

An official at the Israeli embassy in London told TJ: “It’s quite a ludicrous statement to be made today in the aftermath of the bombing in Tel Aviv, which showed the true nature of Hamas, with whom Mr Davies met. Hamas justified that attack and they have repeatedly said they will not talk to or recognise Israel, nor respect any international agreement with it.”

Zionist Federation President Eric Moonman said: “It is very sad that an MEP has swallowed the propaganda of his Palestinian minders on a trip to the territories.”

He added: “It is simply unhelpful for any visiting politician to make rash judgements about an extremely volatile situation. He has to reckon with the anxieties of the ordinary Israeli who has seen the devastation and killing of his own people in the most dreadful suicide bombing in the last few days.”

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