A major European boost for Palestinians

The endorsement by the European Parliament of the Palestinians' quest for United Nations' recognition of their statehood is a major boost to their struggle for liberation from Israeli occupation.On Thursday, the European Parliament issued a statement calling the Palestinian bid for statehood "legitimate." It said: "The right of Palestinians to self-determination and to have their own state is unquestionable, as is the right of Israel to exist within safe borders." The European Parliament also reiterated its endorsement of the 1967 borders as a basis for negotiations, stressing that "no changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties should be accepted." The parliamentarians urged Israel's government to halt settlement construction."The statement was issued parallel to European Union moves towards a trade deal with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to fully open markets to farm and fish products from the West Bank and Gaza Strip", opined the Sharjah-based English language local daily 'The Gulf Today, in its editorial Saturday.It added that the 27-0 vote by the European Parliament's international trade committee paves the way for full parliamentary approval for a deal later this year."The deal is seen as enormously important since it gives more power to the Palestinians to trade directly with the EU. It is also a signal of goodwill from the international community that comes at an important time", the paper said.It underlined that the move is one of the agreements that will help the Palestinians build the economy of an independent sovereign state.Israel has consistently hindered Palestinian exports to Europe by imposing new rules and regulations. Europe imposed strict labelling laws on goods arriving from the occupied territories in 2005. But Israel's complex laws and the fact that trade is conducted largely through Israeli channels has created lingering concerns that Israeli farm operators may be benefiting from deals designed to aid Palestinians."Many EU countries have stopped importing from Israel products that are produced in the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories", the paper said.It concluded that the European Parliament's endorsement of the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition is an emphatic reaffirmation of the correctness of the course of action that the Palestinian leadership has chosen by internationalising the conflict with Israel at the UN.