Voting EU posponed, but NOT A VICTORY. Item will soon be on the agenda again (this month or in January) if the EP is complete
Reageer (0)van Max Wieselmann:
Dear friends, the voting in the EP on the upgrading of relations
between Israel and the EU is postponed. But that is not a victory. The
item will soon be on the agenda again (in this month or in January) and
if the EP is complete (which is normally the case if they meet in
Strassbourg) we are lost. The key position in the voting is as I
understood from well informed sources with the PES, the Social
Democrats. The shift in their midst between pro and contra is vital for
the outcome of the overall voting. So let us try again to get into
contact with PES-members and ask them not to vote for an unconditional
upgrading. Conditions (peace process, humanitarian situation in Gaza
etc.) have to be fulfilled before the upgrading takes place not
afterwards because with that we have bad experience. Call or
write/email your MEP’s, of course in the first place the PES delegates
but in other parties also. Special attention should be payed to the
following:
In the PES there seems to be a key rol for its rapporteur in this case
Veronique de Keyser, she was behind the resolution for upgrading but
‘went over’ under pressure by her PES colleagues, at least this week
(in the decision to postpone the voting). So if you have contacts with
her or if you know people who know her, please put your message through
to these people (I hope our Belgian friends can do something in this
respect).
Both in the PES and in the EPP (the Christian-Democrats) the Germans
and the members from the Eastern European countries are a special case,
they usually take a very ‘pro’ Israel position. Since as EJJP we do not
have groups in Eastern Europe we can only ask our German members to try
to address their fellow country men explicitly (in all EP parties!).
It is not a problem that MEP’s get the same message from different sides!
Thanks for your cooperation,
Max
