ARABS-ISRAEL - April 10 - EU To Impose Political & Trade Sanctions Against Israel.
The European Parliament European Parliament, a branch of the governing body of the European Union (EU). It convenes on a monthly basis in Strasbourg, France; most meetings of the separate parliamentary committees are held in Brussels, Belgium, and its Secretariat is located in Luxembourg. adopts a resolution in Strasbourg, by a
vote of 269 to 208, calling on the 15 EU member states to impose
political and trade sanctions Trade sanctions are trade penalties imposed by one or more countries on one or more other countries. Typically the sanctions take the form of import tariffs (duties), licensing schemes or other administrative hurdles. against Israel, which, it says, is
violating international and humanitarian law in its offensive against
the PA. The resolution says the Israeli military campaign "will
provide no effective solution to the terrorist attacks", and it
calls for the EU to suspend a special trading agreement with Israel,
which would require a unanimous vote of all 15 EU members. The
resolution also calls on the EU to institute an arms embargo An arms embargo is an embargo that applies to weaponry. It may also include "dual use" items. An arms embargo may serve one or more purposes: - to signal disapproval of behavior by a certain actor,
- to maintain neutral standing in an ongoing conflict, or
on Israel
and the PA. (The resolution is not binding on the individual member
countries and has no legal force. But it reflects public opinion in
Europe. EU trade sanctions could badly damage the economy of Israel Israel has a diversified economy with substantial government ownership and a rapidly developing high-tech sector. Poor in natural resources, Israel depends on imports of petroleum, coal, food, uncut diamonds, other production inputs, and military equipment. ,
which sent more than E8 bn in exports to the EU in 2000). The resolution
condemns the "systematic destruction of infrastructures on the West
Bank". It says Arafat "must enjoy freedom of movement"
and described Sharon's refusal to let Spanish FM Josep Pique and EU
foreign policy chief Javier Solana to visit Arafat on April 4 as
"offensive". The resolution calls for "consideration to
be given to the sending of an international peacekeeping and monitoring
force to the region under UN auspices" and calls on EU member
states "to make an immediate start on preparing their contribution
to that force". It also stresses "the special responsibility
of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. " in influencing Israeli policy, and condemns
"recent acts of anti-Semitism committed in Europe" including
arson attacks on French synagogues. Israel denounced the resolution,
with Foreign Ministry Deputy Director-General Victor Harel saying:
"We are disappointed and deplore de·plore
tr.v. de·plored, de·plor·ing, de·plores
1. To feel or express strong disapproval of; condemn: "Somehow we had to master events, not simply deplore them" the resolution. We believe that
this is a time for constructive proposals, and not for calling for
economic sanctions Economic sanctions are economic penalties applied by one country (or group of countries) on another for a variety of reasons. Economic sanctions include, but are not limited to, tariffs, trade barriers, import duties, and import or export quotas. that we completely reject and will lead to
nowhere". (The EU has been by far the largest donor to the PA since
the mid-1990s, helping to finance the construction of an airport,
hospital, port facilities, universities, housing and sewage systems. The
EU has spent E3.47 bn since 1994 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip For the West Bank and Gaza Strip please see one of the following: - Judea and Samaria
- West Bank
- Gaza Strip
- Yesha
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- Israel
- Palestinian territories
- Gush Katif
. In
Jan. 2001, Pique sent a letter to Israel detailing EU-financed projects
damaged or destroyed by Israeli military action in the PA-ruled
territories and assessing the losses at E17.3m. The letter expressed the
"firm rejection of these destructive operations", saying they
were "out of proportion in relation to military, security or police
needs").
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Copyright 2002, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
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