The Destruction in Gaza

I am presently preparing a report on my visit to Gaza last week. In the meantime, I’ve posted the speech I made at the Plenary Debate on the Middle East in the European Parliament, Brussels, on Wednesday.

“President,

I was a member of the delegation that travelled to Gaza last week to see the devastation. The focus of this parliament’s resolution today is humanitarian action and this is desperately needed. This is a real humanitarian crisis and it needs to be addressed urgently. 90% of people in Gaza are dependent on UN aid. This is not linked to any negotiations it is an urgent crisis. The key to providing the aid is the lifting of the siege and the reopening of all the crossing points. How can a densely populated area of 1.5 million people which has been bombed for 22 days – and in which over a thousand people were killed – even begin to recover when only 15 categories of items of humanitarian aid are allowed in – mainly food, some medicines and mattresses. You can’t rebuild homes and offices without cement and glass – which are banned. You can’t teach children in schools which have no paper – which is banned. You can’t feed people when there isn’t enough food. being allowed in. The aid is there but it is not being allowed through. We must put pressure on Israel to end the blockade and open all the crossings.

And any assessment of the damage caused in Gaza must draw attention to the deliberate targeting to destroy the infrastructure and the economy – we saw schools, factories, homes and a hospital which had been deliberately attacked. Once again we have witnessed the destruction by Israel of projects funded by the European Union. Rather than take action on this we talk about upgrading trade relations with Israel when conditions on human rights are clearly being breached under the current agreement.

Mr. Solana said that pursuing the same policies can bring us back to the same place. I agree. The EU refused to recognise the Palestinian unity government in 2006 which included members of Hamas. But we are about to recognise the new Israeli government which may include members who reject a two state solution – who don’t support a Palestinian state.

What is crucial now is that the EU must be prepare to work with and recognise an interim Palestinian national government of consensus that should emerge from the Cairo talks in the next few weeks – and give out clear signals of our intentions to the international community. We have to support the reconciliation process in Palestine as part of achieving a long term solution, and that means ensuring we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.”

Icy blast heightens the message

The dipping temperatures brought home the need for action on heating bills in Colwyn Bay at the weekend.

I was there with Clwyd West Parliamentary candidate Llyr Huws Gruffydd, and Councillors Abdul Khan and Phil Edwards – also the Plaid Parliamentary candidate for Aberconwy – gathering signatures on a petition calling on the UK government to take immediate action to cut people’s heating bills.

We are campaigning for a package of measures including a temporary cut in VAT on home heating funded by a windfall tax on energy companies.

Figures produced by a national charity have indicated that there could be over 40 excess deaths in the Colwyn Bay area alone this winter because of the cold. The average family in areas such as Colwyn Bay and Abergele is paying £517 more for gas and £236 more for electricity than five years ago, while UK energy companies’ profits have risen by over 500%.

We might have expected people to hurry past, to get out of the cold, but in fact many people were ready to sign the Plaid petition. Like us, they wanted to send a clear message to Gordon Brown – the UK government must do more to help people cope with the cost of heating their homes.