The US President’s Gaza Peace Plan Donald Trumpruns the risk of serving as distraction maneuver of the crimes that Israel commits, and of “political safety valve” for the European Union that it has “failed as an institution,” said this Wednesday the United Nations rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, during a press conference in the European Parliament.
According to Albanese, between 250 and 300 Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israel since the entry into force of cease-fire. Most perished in a series of bombings on Gaza last October. The Italian denounces that the ceasefire only allows international institutions “remain indifferent to the suffering of the people”.
The UN rapporteur has become one of the most powerful voices against the aggression committed by Israel in Gaza and which has been described as “genocide” by international organizations. For the Italian, Trump’s peace plan only serves as a distraction and “political escape valve” for the world does not take action against Israel. The United Nations Security Council resolution approved last Monday “will further strengthen external control over Gaza and will replace legal obligations to the Palestinians with a foreign control model that prioritizes security and is based on capital, which will consolidate existing power asymmetries”he has denounced.
The European failure
Albanese has traveled to Brussels, invited by the Socialist, Left and Green groups in the European Parliament. In a press conference this Wednesday, the UN rapporteur has accused the European Union of having “failed as an organization” when taking measures “to stop crimes most atrocious in Palestine”. The EU, he said, “does nothing”.
“There is no time to pontificate or debate about how bad European politics isbecause there is an ongoing genocide that must be stopped,” Albanese snapped, stressing that support for Palestinian self-determination “It is not an act of good will or charity. It is a legal obligation”. For the Italian, European inaction is only understood for economic issues.
He has qualified as “ridiculous” the measures proposed by the European Commission against Israel, and which have ended up in a drawer after the ceasefire. “What Israel deserves is the breaking of relations”Albanese said. On Thursday EU foreign ministers will meet again to discuss the latest developments in the region. But the debate on the possibility of sanctioning the Israeli Government no longer exists.
The rapporteur has called on the EU to suspend the association agreement with Israelto sanction the Government and treat it as a State that violates international law. Albanese also considers that the bloc has to clear up responsibilities and investigate European citizens who have participated in the killings and the companies who benefit from the occupation.
This Thursday, The EU will host its first meeting of the donor group for Palestine. A meeting in which we will not actually talk about money, but about reforms. “The only thing the European Union has to do is establish a fund to compensate based on his contribution and the benefits he has obtained from the crimes committed against the Palestinians,” Albanese said, criticizing that there is talk of reconstruction “while the tragedy is still ongoing”.
Citizen dignity
The UN rapporteur has highlighted social mobilization across the EU in favor of the Palestinian cause. “To the millions of Europeans who have taken to the streets, who they have risked their liveswho have been beaten by the police or who have been suspended from their jobs, I want to thank them,” said Albanese. They do, he added, “they have learned the lessons of the past”.
“I am often told that I exceed my duties,” the Italian acknowledged, “but this is due to the cowardice of leaders and bureaucratswhich takes us back to the last century, when millions of people were exterminated on this continent while other millions were exterminated outside it with the same means and the same logic.” Albanese has insisted on the need to raise your voice in defense of international law in Palestine, in the Congoin Sudanlike in Europe.
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