Former Palestinian presidential candidate, Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, calls on EU to pressure Israel to stop human rights violations

Former Palestinian information minister calls for pressuring Israel

Thursday October 25, 2007 18:13 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies rami at imemc dot org

Former Palestinian presidential candidate, minister, and chairman of the Palestinian National Initiative party, Mustafa Al-Barghouthi, called Thursday on the European Union to pressure the Israeli government for halting human rights violations across the occupied Palestinian territories.

former Palestinian information minister, Mustafa Barghouthi

Barghouthi’s remarks came during a meeting with the Italian development minister, Patricia Sintanili.

The former minister discussed with his guest the dangers beyond the Israeli practices including the construction of the Apartheid Wall, the settlement activities and the frequent invasions of Palestinian areas.

He revealed that 457 Palestinians, including 92 children have been killed over the past 12 months, saying that the life of the population has been largely jargonized due to the Israeli actions.

In this respect, he referred to the large movement restrictions; Israel has been placing in the various Palestinian cities, towns and villages in the West Bank.

The gravest of such actions, according to Barghouthi, are the impediments, Israel has been creating prior to the next month’s Washington-sponsored conference on Middle East, due to be held in Annapolis, Maryland in the United States, mainly Israeli refusal to agree to a common ground for core issues such as the refugees problem, borders of Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem.

He warned of the repercussions of the continued Israeli closure of the Gaza Strip , with unprecedented poverty rate and high unemployment figures, as commercial and travel crossings have been completely closed since June.

The Palestinian politician voiced his hope that the EU and Italy would play a greater role in pressuring the Israeli government to cease ‘crimes’ against the Palestinian people, appealing for more support to the Palestinian people and thanking the government and people of Italy for their constant backing to the Palestinian legitimate rights.

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