DNA

ISLAMABAD : Palestine National Council (PNC) has called on the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), regional and international associations, parliaments and the world’s parliaments to take same positions of members of the European Parliament to ban trade and stop support for illegal Israeli settlements in lands considered occupied under international law.

 In a statement, PNC welcomed what was stated in a letter signed by 46 members of the European Parliament (Renew Europe group), addressed to the Executive Vice President and Commissioner of the European Union for Trade Valdes Dombrovskis regarding the necessity of prohibiting trade and economic support for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, and applying the European law and the World Trade Organization (WTO) law to prevent settlements products from entering the markets of the Union, to act unified, and to benefit from the influence of the European Union as a global trading bloc.

The positions of the European parliamentarians are a strong message to everyone who violates international law and legalizes Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories and deals with their products, PNC stressed, denouncing -same time- the Israeli occupation authorities approval of a plan to establish 8,300 new settlement units aimed at bringing about a total change in the borders and demographic composition of occupied Jerusalem .

 PNC commended what was stated in the message of these members who indicated that if the European Union wants to uphold its values of respect for human rights, and above all, respect for international law, it must prohibit economic support for illegal Israeli settlements and, as a global trade bloc, use the soft power to establish economic influence and pressure for everyone who flouts and does not abide by international law.

The importance of the message of the members of the European Parliament that it is consistent with international law, resolutions of international legitimacy and decisions of human rights councils regarding entities that deal with Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, PNC confirmed, considering the settlements are illegal and must be removed, as they constitute a continuous war crime. It is necessity to take all required measures to end the Israeli occupation in all its manifestations and images, and the ugliest crime of settlement.