The European Community has protested Israel’s deportation of eight Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, declaring it could only have “negative consequences.”
A statement on the matter was released by the Spanish Foreign Ministry in Madrid on behalf of the 12 nations of the European Community Friday night, only hours before Spain’s six-month chairmanship of the E.C. Council of Ministers ended.
Israel expelled the Palestinians Thursday, alleging they were organizers of the Palestinian uprising, now in its 19th month. The deportees were ferried to Lebanon by helicopter.
The E.C. statement said the expulsions “could only have negative consequences for the tense situation in the occupied territories and would make very difficult the efforts to create a climate of confidence between the two parties.”
It was the second statement related to the Arab-Israeli conflict to be issued in four days by the E.C., which is based here.
The European summit meeting in Madrid on June 26 and 27 produced the community’s first policy statement on the Middle East since its 1980 Venice Declaration.
It welcomed Israel’s peace initiative, but continued to press for an international conference for Middle East peace under U.N. auspices, which is opposed by Israel.
The E.C. leaders also insisted that the Palestine Liberation Organization be included in peace negotiations. That was an advance from the nine-year-old Venice Declaration, which called for the PLO only to be associated with the peace process.
The PLO responded with a communique from its Tunis headquarters saying it “welcomes and appreciates” the E.C. statement, which “contained clear principles for a just settlement in the region.”
The PLO also expressed hope that France, which took over the E.C. chairmanship from Spain on Saturday, would follow up the Madrid position.
PLO LAUDS E.C. POSITION
Israel’s reaction to the E.C.’s latest policy manifesto on the Middle East was critical insofar as the statement gave only qualified approval to the peace plan advanced by the government.
The plan’s four points include Palestinian elections to choose delegates to negotiate with Israel for an interim period of self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The E.C. leaders welcomed the process, provided that it is part of a comprehensive settlement, that it excludes no solution and that Arab residents of East Jerusalem are allowed to vote.
The PLO statement said, “This progressive position taken by the E.C. represents a positive contribution toward pushing forward the peace process and provides a stable foundation for playing an active role in achieving a just solution.”
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman welcomed the E.C. leaders’ call on the Arab countries to establish peace, cooperation and normal relations with Israel.
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