The European Parliament today adopted a resolution on Palestine in the context of the current bid for UN recognition of the Palestinian state. The Greens welcomed the strong majority in favour of the resolution, which represents a clear message on how the EU should orient itself to supporting Palestine. After the vote, Greens/EFA co-president Dany Cohn-Bendit said:

"The EU should stand clearly behind Palestine and the support of a large majority of the European Parliament for the resolution adopted today sends a clear message to this end.

Instead of idly standing by and waiting for this deadlock in the peace talks to be broken, the EU should proactively support the initiative by Palestine and try and force Israel to constructively reengage in negotiations. Today's resolution points the right direction in this regard. The current divisions within the EU are undermining our ability to help get the peace process back on track. The EU should speak with a common voice and the previous Council statement on the Middle East provides a good basis for this.  The Greens believe the EU should end its ambiguous stance and recognise the existence of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders.

The illegal settlements, and the Israeli government's support for this odious practice, are an obvious barrier to progressing the peace talks. The EU must both call for a complete stop of all settlement activities and unequivocally condemn the new settlements that are still being announced. MEPs have today clearly stated this and called for the EU to immediately restart the talks based on the proposals of the Quartet. Cynically kowtowing to the Israeli government will do nothing for peace in the Middle East."

Richard More O'Ferrall,

Press and media officer,

Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament

Mobile: +32-477-443842 - Ph. +32-22841669 (Brussels); +33-388174042

www.greens-efa.eu - http://twitter.com/GreensEP