International

SP Senator Tiny Kox is pleased that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be visiting the Netherlands in June. President Abbas announced his visit at a meeting in Ramallah at the end of Senator Kox’s working visit to Palestine last week. Kox was there to look into the possibilities for closer cooperation following the Palestine National Council’s request to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in which forty-seven European countries are represented. Abbas said that the Palestinian request would be honoured, noting that ‘European support is now more than ever important to us.’

Senator Kox in talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

The Palestinian president is also anxious during his visit to the Netherlands to explain his renewed attempt to breathe life into the Middle East peace process, and to seek support for this initiative. In the past week he has received assurances of support from British Prime Minister David Cameron and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. The Arab League has also given its support to the Palestinian President’s moves towards rapprochement with Hamas and his proposal that parliamentary and presidential elections be held later this year in the West Bank and Gaza. In Kox’s opinion it is vital that the Netherlands offer the Palestinians support, especially at a time when struggles for more democracy and justice are continuing throughout the Arab world.

During the meeting in Ramallah Kox also invited the Palestinian president for further consultations with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, an invitation to which Abbas responded positively. The SP Senator is responsible for looking, on behalf of the Council of Europe, into the request of the Palestinian National Council for closer cooperation. In connection with this he held talks last week with Prime Minister Fayyad, Foreign Minister Riyad Al Malki, Justice Minister Ali Khashan and other members of the Palestinian government. He also met with Palestinian National Council Chair Salim Al Zanoun and representatives of the various political parties, including Hamas and Fatah, of Palestinian trade unions, human rights organisations, the Palestinian women’s movement and the Palestinian media, the Palestinian auditors’ office and the judiciary. In Bir Zeit he spoke with representatives of Palestinian universities and in Jerusalem with the European Union representation.

Senator Kox’s visit concluded with a meeting in Ramallah with President Abbas, shortly before the latter’s meeting with Fatah and Hamas, the first for a year. Abbas told Kox that he is determined to see his rapprochement with Hamas come to fruition and to organise fresh elections this year. ”I’m resolved to go to Gaza shortly and work on reconciliation,” he said. “Palestinian unity is necessary if we are to breathe new life into the negotiations with Israel. We are prepared for this, and I hope that Israel also understands the need for these negotiations. In Israel too they will realise that the Arab revolt will have consequences for relations with the Palestinians.” The Palestinian president said that he will not be standing in the forthcoming presidential election. “That seems to me to send a clear signal in a region where people often want to stay in power for decades,” he said. “Not I. Others can take over.”