IPSC Slams Europarliament decision on EU-Israel Scientific Agreement

international | eu | news report Friday March 12, 2004 00:16 by Paul - Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign supportpalestine at ireland dot com PO Box 9124, Dublin 1 01 6770253

IPSC applauds stance of Irish MEPs as Parliament approves agreement

The European Parliament today overwhelmingly approved the ratification of a new agreement on scientific and technical co-operation with Israel, a decision that was immediately condemned by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The Campaign praised the stance of Irish MEPs from all parties who opposed the agreement.

Commenting on the vote, a spokesman for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign said:

“It is most regrettable that the Parliament has ignored the massive human rights abuses currently being carried out in the Occupied Territories in expressing its approval of this agreement.

“The Palestinian education system is now barely functioning due to constant assaults by the Israeli army, including the shooting of children on their way to school and pillaging of educational records in Palestinian government offices. In these circumstances the European Parliament should not approve an agreement which gives Israel preferential treatment in scientific and technical research.

“It is particularly deplorable that the Parliament approved the agreement despite the fact that it does not exclude cooperation on dual-use technology which has military as well as civilian functions. The Israeli army should not benefit from Israel’s cooperation agreements with the EU while it continues to willfully kill and injure innocent civilians in the West Bank and Gaza.

“The IPSC applauds the strong stance against approval of the Agreement taken by Irish MEPs Nuala Ahern , John Cushnahan and Proinsias De Rossa, who all called for the Parliament to take this opportunity to stand up for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

The Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the EU and Israel had previously been discussed by the Parliament’s Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy Committee, which had reported back to the Parliament recommending acceptance. The Parliament’s role in the ratification process was purely consultative.

In the debate on the agreement, Irish Green MEP Nuala Ahern (Leinster) proposed a number of amendments to the committee’s report, including one recalling the Parliament’s objections to a previous agreement in 1990, which it only withdrew when the Israeli government scaled down its obstruction of Palestinian education. This amendment was defeated by a vote of 223 to 189 but the second Green amendment, opposing ratfication of the agreement, was defeated by 358 votes to 56. A third amendment, proposing that the agreement should not cover technology with dual military and civil application, was ruled out of order.

Speaking to the amendments, Nuala Ahern said “The abuse of Palestinian human rights by the Israeli military is as bad, if not worse than it was in 1990 when the EU suspended funding for scientific research in Israel.The EU prides itself on upholding human rights and this is why we must again suspend funding to Israel.”

Fine Gael Munster MEP John Cushnahan had co-sponsored the Green amendments at committee stage, while Seán Ó Neachtáin (Fianna Fáil, Connacht-Ulster) and Avril Doyle (Fine Gael, Leinster) also expressed their opposition to the agreement in correspondence with the IPSC.

The Parliament’s main left-wing group, the Party of European Socialists, took a position in favour of the agreement although Irish Socialist MEP Proinsias De Rossa (Labour, Dublin) objected strongly and voted against the agreement.