NOVANEWS
Posted by Friends of Al-Aqsa
The European Union has contributed €148 million to the Palestinian Authority in the second part of its 2013 assistance package for Palestine. The funds will be used to provide critical support to the PA in the area of health, education and social services to the Palestinian people.
EU commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, commented: ‘Despite commendable efforts of budget consolidation, the fiscal problem of the Palestinian Authority is progressively worsening and has been extremely difficult since the end of last year. The EU is aware of these constraints and taking steps to alleviate the problem.”
He added, “These new funds are vital for ensuring that there is no interruption in the provision of basic services, such as health, education, social protection, as well as in the relief to the Palestinian people in Palestine and to the Palestinian refugees abroad.”
Though FOA welcomes this new aid to the Palestinians, it will only provide temporary respite to some Palestinians. The plight of the Palestinian people progressively worsens on a daily basis as they are stripped of their land as well as their dignity and human rights. The EU still has much to do if it wishes to assist the Palestinians.
The EU has been culpable in creating the conditions for Palestinian misery as it has aided and abetted Israel through its various dastardly deeds. The EU has failed to take meaningful and effective action, that will force Israel into rethinking its policies, whenever Israel flagrantly breaches international law such as in Israel’s continued illegal settlement building on occupied Palestinian land.
The EU has also caused misery for the Palestinians through its contradictory policies. For example, in condemning illegal settlement building on the one hand and on the other hand continuing to import goods into the EU from illegal settlements in the West Bank, the EU is providing legitimacy to illegal Israeli settlements which render EU statements opposing illegal settlements as totally hollow and redundant.
It is quite clearly evident that small sums of aid from the EU to the Palestinians are not enough to alleviate the misery of the Palestinian people. What is required is a meaningful and effective stand taken by the international community, with the EU as an important voice, to challenge Israel every time it acts in blatant defiance of international law and human rights conventions.
Until we have such a challenge, Israel will continue to act abhorrently as it seeks to expand its illegal colonialist enterprise and small sums of aid will continue to merely address the consequences of the problem and not the problem itself.
EU commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, commented: ‘Despite commendable efforts of budget consolidation, the fiscal problem of the Palestinian Authority is progressively worsening and has been extremely difficult since the end of last year. The EU is aware of these constraints and taking steps to alleviate the problem.”
He added, “These new funds are vital for ensuring that there is no interruption in the provision of basic services, such as health, education, social protection, as well as in the relief to the Palestinian people in Palestine and to the Palestinian refugees abroad.”
Though FOA welcomes this new aid to the Palestinians, it will only provide temporary respite to some Palestinians. The plight of the Palestinian people progressively worsens on a daily basis as they are stripped of their land as well as their dignity and human rights. The EU still has much to do if it wishes to assist the Palestinians.
The EU has been culpable in creating the conditions for Palestinian misery as it has aided and abetted Israel through its various dastardly deeds. The EU has failed to take meaningful and effective action, that will force Israel into rethinking its policies, whenever Israel flagrantly breaches international law such as in Israel’s continued illegal settlement building on occupied Palestinian land.
The EU has also caused misery for the Palestinians through its contradictory policies. For example, in condemning illegal settlement building on the one hand and on the other hand continuing to import goods into the EU from illegal settlements in the West Bank, the EU is providing legitimacy to illegal Israeli settlements which render EU statements opposing illegal settlements as totally hollow and redundant.
It is quite clearly evident that small sums of aid from the EU to the Palestinians are not enough to alleviate the misery of the Palestinian people. What is required is a meaningful and effective stand taken by the international community, with the EU as an important voice, to challenge Israel every time it acts in blatant defiance of international law and human rights conventions.
Until we have such a challenge, Israel will continue to act abhorrently as it seeks to expand its illegal colonialist enterprise and small sums of aid will continue to merely address the consequences of the problem and not the problem itself.
