- LONDON -- Members of the
British parliament's Select Committee on International Development have
called on the government of Prime Minister Tony Blair to consider "economic
pressure on Israel to ease movement restrictions which are crippling the
Palestinian economy and causing soaring poverty."
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- The committee, which on Wednesday published a report
into the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, expressed
"serious concern over a range of policies adopted by the Israeli government
and the negative impact they are having on living conditions of Palestinians
in the West Bank and Gaza."
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- According to the report, "malnutrition rates in
Gaza and parts of the West Bank equal those in sub-Saharan Africa and regional
unemployment stands at a staggering 60 to 70 percent."
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- The authors of the reported stressed that, although they
are "highly sympathetic to Israeli safety concerns Ö it is hard
to avoid the conclusion that there is a deliberate Israeli approach of
putting the lives of ordinary Palestinians under stress as part of a strategy
to bring the population to heel. Certain security measures, including the
construction of the security barrier and movement restrictions imposed
on Palestinians, are completely undermining the viability of a future Palestinian
state."
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- Committee called for both the EU and the UK government
"to take a stronger stance on these issues and to consider using economic
pressure to persuade Israel to ease restrictions."
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- The findings are the result of a detailed six month inquiry
which involved taking written and oral evidence as well as a fact-finding
visit to the region.
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- "Our report is a balanced assessment of the humanitarian
situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," said committee
Chairman Tony Baldry MP. "It shows that Israel's security policy is
having a marked impact on everyday life. Key measures, such as the construction
of a security barrier higher than the Berlin Wall, may bring the mirage
of immediate security to Israelis, but the level of despair felt by ordinary
Palestinians at being denied an ordinary life can only increase the supply
of suicide bombers. Nor is it likely to illicit any concessions from the
Palestinian leaders. We can understand why Israel, fearful for its security,
wants to build a barrier, but any such fence should be constructed on Israeli,
not Palestinian, land."
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