International

SP Euro-MP Dennis de Jong today attended the Amnesty International protest action which was supported also by Palestinian solidarity groups in Brussels. The demonstrators‘ action was intended to draw attention to the treatment of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. ‘The European Union must take action and stop going along with the continual enlargement of trade privileges via the Association Agreement with Israel,’ says De Jong. ‘Israel uses so-called administrative detention to lock up thousands of Palestinians, sometime even including children, without trial. This is in contravention of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also with conditions attached to the Association Agreement. I want to hear condemnation of this practice from the EU’s High Representative on Foreign Policy Catherine Ashton.’

Solidarity protest for Palestinian prisoners

In a number of prisons, Palestinians are on hunger strike in protest against the persistence of administrative detention. According to Amnesty International and Palestinian solidarity groups the situation of several of these is worrying. During the Brussels action particular attention was called to the situation of these hunger strikers.

The European Parliament last year voted to approve the extension of Israel’s trade privileges by the European Union. The SP opposed this for a number of reasons including, most importantly, abuses of human rights and the ongoing occupation of Palestine.