EU states to support Palestinian moves in The Hague should peace efforts fail

June 6, 2013 by occupiedpalestine 0 Comments

MEMO | June 6, 2013

The Hague thwarted US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to revive the peace process.

Central EU states are planning to support Palestinian efforts against Israel in The Hague should the latter thwarted US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to revive the peace process, the Israeli daily Maariv reported on Thursday. These EU state would like to back all Palestinian efforts to join international organisations. Diplomats from EU countries passed the message, according to Maariv, to senior Israeli officials.
According to the EU diplomats, among the things which might thwart Kerry’s efforts is the continuous Israeli construction in illegal settlements built on occupied Palestinian lands.
Israel recently approved the building of hundreds of settlement units in the settlements of Jelo and Ramot in occupied East Jerusalem. Palestinians have asked for a halt to Israeli construction in settlements as a precondition to the resumption negotiations.
EU sources have told Israel that continuation of this settlement policy would affect EU support for Israel, according to Maariv. They also threatened to reinforce efforts to label settlement production in EU markets.
They also warned that the failure of Kerry’s efforts might push Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to resume his efforts to campaign for status as an independent state in the UN.