Spain’s Action Plan for Gaza Proposed to the EU, Which Does Nothing

Aug. 31—Arriving Aug. 30 at the European Union Foreign Ministers’ informal meeting in Copenhagen, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares Bueno told reporters:

“Spain has proposed an action plan for Gaza and for Palestine. The EU is doing too little and too late and doing nothing, not achieving anything. So the time for declaration is over. We have to move forward. … First to impose an arms embargo on selling weapons from the EU. Secondly, to enlarge the list of people who are sanctioned to anyone who wants to spoil the two-state solution, which is the only solution which will bring peace to the Middle East. Third, we have to back financially, very heavily, the Palestinian Authority, which has been struggling because of Israel withholding the taxes that should go to that Authority. And fourth, we have to enforce and comply with all the rulings and all the advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice, for instance, stopping all trade of products coming from the illegal settlements [on the West Bank]. And also based on Article 2 of the Council of Association between the EU and Israel, we propose a full suspension of that agreement between the EU and Israel.

“We cannot have business as usual when we see this incredible and terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza in which thousands of Palestinians are facing death by starvation, by an induced famine by Israel. And we are talking about children, about babies. This is unacceptable. The EU can only relate to Israel through human rights, and if there is a massive violation, as the report of the Commission has clearly indicated, we must act. This is not the time for words. It’s the time for action, action to stop the war, action to break the blockade of Gaza by Israel, and that is why Spain has proposed an action plan, with things that, by the way, are nothing extraordinary. It’s just fulfilling and complying with our own legislation, or European legislation, that’s all.”

Foreign Minister Albares then spoke of the increased support for Palestinian statehood which Spain led in the EU, and attacked withholding visas for the Palestinian Authority to attend the UN General Assembly in New York. The ministers, as usual, decided to do nothing on the Spanish proposal; they did denounce the actions of the US State Department denying visas to the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.