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"I strongly urge the EU to decide against the upgrade of its relations with Israel until such time as Israel abides by international and human rights laws, including by freezing all settlement activity," Salam Fayyad wrote in his letter.
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BRUSSELS (EJP)---Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has called on the European Union not to upgrade its political and economic ties with Israel at a meeting later this month.
In a letter sent to the European Parliament, the European Commission, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the Prime Ministers of the 27 EU member states, Fayyad accuses Israel of "flagrant disregard of Palestinian rights by continuing to build Jewish settlements and of breaking commitments previously made by it to the EU."
"I strongly urge the EU to decide against the upgrade of its relations with Israel until such time as Israel abides by international and human rights laws, including by freezing all settlement activity, and allows the Palestinian people to enjoy the same neighbourly relations with the EU as other nations in the region," Fayyad wrote in the letter, dated May 27.
"Now is the time for the EU to convey to its friend, Israel, that the key to strengthening its ties with the EU is to demonstrate, by way of action, that it indeed shares and embraces the goals and values of Europeans," he said.
Fayyad raised the issue publicly on Wednesday in an address to a conference in the West Bank town of Bilin. He said the international community needs to take a firm stand. He said that "in this context came our call to the EU" not to upgrade its relationship with Israel.
The EU should not accede to Israel's request "until after Israel implements all of its commitments, especially those related to halting all settlement activities and other violations of human rights in Palestine," Fayyad said.
"We say to all parties that peace and settlements are two parallel lines that will never meet," he added.
An Israeli government spokesman said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "expressed concern" about the letter to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
"This letter is unproductive and it is a throwback to a time when the Palestinian behaviour was counterproductive to the process of reconciliation between the sides," Mark Regev told the press.
On June 16, the EU – Israel Association Council will meet in Luxembourg to discuss upgrading Israel’s political and economic ties with the 27-nation bloc.
Israel is linked to the EU by an association agreement granting it the highest level of relations available to non-member states.
A "reflection group" has been considering areas where EU-Israel relations can be substantially upgraded to a "special status.”
Israel was recently the first member country of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) to sign an agreement which gives Israeli bodies and organizations the ability to participate in various programs proposed by the EU.
The ENP covers 16 EU’s eastern and southern neighbours, including Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia from the one side and Israel, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia and the Palestinian Territories from the other side.
The European Commission recently described Israel as the "front-runner" among non-EU members participating in EU programs.
