By Xinhua,
Amman : European parliament chief cited Israeli settlements expansion and restriction on the Palestinians’ moving as two main blocks facing the reconciliation between the Israelis and Palestinians, local daily The Jordan Times reported on Monday.
European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said the unremitting expansion of the settlements is massively undermining the Palestinians’ confidence, and the restriction on movements of the Palestinians represents hurdles to the progress in the peace talks.
He made the remarks on a Euro-Med Parliamentary Assembly (EMPA)meeting held on the shores of the Dead Sea which discussed the Middle East peace process.
Poettering noted that the restriction on Palestinians’ movement makes their “economy incapable of recovery in these conditions.”
“Without freedom of movement, the creation of a stable Palestinian state is inconceivable,” he said.
“Security does not consist only of a military dimension, security will only be possible if the people of Israel and Palestine respect each other mutually. Security begins with reconciliation,” the president told the meeting.
He said the Annapolis Process must not become “a cover behind which settlement policy continues in the region and the Palestinian areas remain locked into countless security zones, restricting peoples’ freedom of movement.”
According to Poettering, the EU should play a more prominent role in securing a global settlement in the Middle East.