The Palestinian Prime Minister and the President of the European Parliament: On the Assassination of Shireen Abu Akleh, European Pressure on Israel to Stop its Violations, and Unilateral Actions
Brussels, Wednesday, May 11, 2022 –
The Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh, met with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, at the Parliament’s headquarters in the Belgian capital of Brussels, in the presence of the ambassador of the State of Palestine to the European Union, Belgium, and Luxembourg, Abdul Rahim Al-Farra.
His Excellency called on the European Parliament and the European Union to bring pressure to bear on Israel to cease all unilateral actions and violations against Palestinians and all attempts to impose a temporal and spatial division of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Dr. Shtayyeh briefed Ms. Metsola on the evolving situation in Palestine and the violations of the occupation, saying: "Israel acts as a state above the law and pursues a shoot-to-kill policy when it comes to Palestinians. Early today, we witnessed the assassination of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the murder of the child Thayer Khalil Yazouri."
During the meeting, Dr. Mohammed stressed the importance of accelerating the release of European aid funds to Palestine. Furthermore, he called on the EU to pressure Israel to accept the auditing of Palestinian tax revenues and associated deductions by an international party; to desist from all acts of piracy of Palestinian funds and illegal, unjust deductions.
At last, the Prime Minister renewed his calls for an earnest European pressure on Israel to allow elections to be held throughout Palestine, and as previously, in Jerusalem in particular, and concluded by inviting the President of the EU Parliament and the Human Rights Committee to visit Palestine and witness the reality on the ground.