Israel Matzav

Heh....

You can't fool all the Europeans all of the time. A group of French and Italian lawmakers opposed last week's decision to make the 'Palestinian Authority' a 'partner in democracy' for Europe. The reasons: Widespread human rights violations and a fractured 'Palestinian' government.

The objections, outlined in a two-page letter to the council, was sent in advance of the decision to make the PA the second non-European body to become a partner for democracy. Morocco’s parliament was the first legislature to become affiliated with the council.

The European lawmakers, including Fiamma Nirenstein, vice president of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Italian Chamber of Deputies, wrote to the Council of Europe: “We are worried that this well-intentioned upgrading could result in the opposite of what we expect and hope for the future of the Palestinian Authority. The PA is very dramatically divided, from the political point of view, basically into two factions, Fatah and Hamas. In May 2011 there was a controversial pact of reconciliation and now, notwithstanding several disagreements, Mr. Abu Mazen [PA President Mahmoud Abbas] is trying very hard to renew it and make it effective.”

The seven lawmakers continued, “But Hamas is listed among the terrorist organizations in the European Union and in the USA; it bases its work on an anti-Semitic and anti-Western charter in which it promises to destroy Israel; it keeps the soldier Gilad Schalit as a prisoner in a secret refuge while nobody, not even the Red Cross, has ever been allowed to get direct information about him; it keeps its population under a heavy Shari’a law.”

In addition to Nirenstein, the letter was signed by Italian lawmakers Rossana Boldi, Marco Zacchera, Giacomo Stucchi and Giuseppe Saro. French legislators Rudy Salles and Roland Blum also signed the letter.

In contrast to the European Parliament in Brussels, the Council of Europe in Strasbourg is a largely symbolic legislative body of 47 members and aims to develop democratic principles and advance human rights. Abbas addressed the council on Thursday, seeking its support for the Palestinian bid to become a member state at the United Nations. The council asked its members – France, Russia, Britain, Germany, Portugal, and Bosnia and Herzegovina – that have seats on the UN Security Council to support Palestinian statehood.

The seven legislators took the PA’s and Hamas’s human rights record to task in their letter.

“About citizens’ rights: According to the 2010 report of Freedom House, women ‘are subjected to restrictive personal status law, which retain discriminatory provisions related to marriage, divorce, and child custody. Domestic abuse remains a significant problem and violence against women has increased in the recent years... Discriminatory laws and tradition also affect inheritance, alimony, employment opportunities... So-called ‘honor killings,’ which typically involve the murder of women by relatives as punishment for extramarital sex, have also escalated,’” the lawmakers wrote.

“As far as Hamas is concerned, the Islamist organization has incorporated in Gaza the hudud, a seventh- century unified penal code that features punishments as amputations, whipping, stoning.”

The Council of Europe did not respond to the letter.

Labels: Council of Europe, Fiamma Nirenstein, Palestinian Authority

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:37 PM