The head of the European Parliament, former Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, has said in a speech to the Knesset that the direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians were “the only way forward” in the peace process. Buzek apparently backed the Palestinians on the issue of Jerusalem, saying that the eastern part of the city should become the capital of a Palestinian state. He told the Israeli lawmakers: “You are an extension of Europe, its part. I believe that also here, European solutions are possible, bringing respect, recognition and unequivocal support of the international community for decades. “Achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians is the most pressing challenge today. Over many decades, this conflict has been used by Arab regimes as an excuse to not implement political reforms. Recent events in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries of the region have shown the determination of the peoples to defend their legitimate aspirations to enjoy freedom and achieve social justice," Buzek said.
Earlier this week, in a visit to the Palestinian territories, he expressed his opposition to a Palestinian plan to seek United Nations recognition of a state in September without negotiating this with Israel. "Achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians is the most pressing challenge today. Over many decades, this conflict has been used by Arab regimes as an excuse to not implement political reforms," the head of the EU assembly said. Buzek stressed that the need for progress on the Middle East peace process and said: "Nobody can afford the status quo. For Israel, continuing to live with the fear of Kassam rockets fired on its population is not sustainable."
The Polish politician said Israel had “a fundamental right to exist. Israel has a lasting right to live peacefully within secure borders among neighbors who recognize it." He added: "Whenever this right is questioned, or denied, the European Union will stand firmly by Israel’s side, without hesitation…The uniqueness of the Shoah is unquestioned. And let me be clear, political leaders who continue to deny the Holocaust will never be accepted in the community of civilized nations. Because the Holocaust is not only a European tragedy, it is a stain on the history of mankind."
On Tuesday, Buzek had paid a visit to Israel’s main Holocaust memorial. "I was deeply shaken and moved by my visit to Yad Vashem," he said afterwards. "Those crimes are beyond human imagination, yet they happened. The faces that look at us from the past leave a stamp in our hearts forever. We want to remember, we must, and we always will remember."
Read the full speech of President Buzek here.
