"The Quartet recognizes that Israel has legitimate security concerns that must continue to be safeguarded. Members of the Quartet are committed to working with Israel, Egypt and the international community to prevent the illicit trafficking of arms and ammunition into Gaza and believe efforts to maintain security while enabling movement and access for Palestinian people and goods are critical. In this context, the Quartet strongly urges all those wishing to deliver goods to the people of Gaza to do so through established channels so that their cargo can be inspected and transferred via established land crossings. The Quartet regrets the injury and deaths caused by the 2010 flotilla, urges restraint and calls on all Governments concerned to use their influence to discourage additional flotillas, which risk the safety of their participants and carry the potential for escalation".

In zijn reactie op de verklaring van het Kwartet zegt ECCP voorzitter Pierre Galand

"By referring, in the context of the Flotilla, to « possible illicit trafficking of arms and ammunitions into Gaza » and by accepting that aid should be delivered to Gaza « through established channels » under Israeli control, you fall into line with the occupying power and the oppressor of the Palestinian population.
You are well aware that all the captains of the boats in this Flotilla have officially required their cargo to be checked by Greek, European or United Nations inspectors. The EU position is contrary to the vision of Europe we defend, namely promoting Human Rights and Humanitarian and International Law."

Bekijk de hele brief van de ECCP.

Het Nederlands Palestina Komitee is lid van de ECCP.

REACTIE VAN DE PLO:

July 3, 2011
 
Palestine Liberation Organization - Negotiations Office

Dr. Erakat on the Quartet Statement about Gaza: “The blockade on Gaza should be immediately lifted, not eased. That is the only appropriate and acceptable message”

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Dr. Saeb Erakat criticized the statement issued by the Quartet for Middle East Peace on the situation in the Gaza Strip.
 
“While we support international engagement in lifting the unjust and inhumane Israeli blockade on Gaza, we would like to remind all partners that the crisis in Gaza is not about the quantity of rice, cement, and other goods that Israel allows into the Strip. Rather, the alarming humanitarian crisis in Gaza is the direct result of an illegal siege that Israel, as an occupying power, is enforcing in abject disregard of international law and as well as its own obligations. The blockade on Gaza should be immediately lifted, not eased. That
is the only appropriate and acceptable message.”
 
“We would like to remind the international community of recent statements by senior Israeli officials, like those made by the Israeli Minister of Transportation, about their wish to further tighten the noose around Gaza.”
 
The situation in Gaza is not about border crossings. It is about the illegally denied and internationally recognized rights of the Palestinian People to dignity, freedom, and self-determination.”
 
Dr. Erakat also regretted the incitement against the organizers of the second flotilla. “These are representatives of international civil society and non-violent activists who have dedicated their time, effort, and passion for a just cause. They seek what the international community has repeatedly called for: an end to the blockade. ”
 
The Chief Negotiator addressed the Quartet, “We invite them to focus on resolving the root cause of the conflict, which is the occupation, rather than seeking ways to manage its destructive symptoms.”
 
Dr. Erakat noted that the upcoming high-level Quartet meeting on 11 July “is a golden opportunity for the Quartet to represent the position of its constituents and support the overdue realization of the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.”
--