Abir Al-Sahlani
Member of the European Parliament · Renew · SE
“Madam President, let me first start with thanking you, dear Commissioner Lahbib, for your principled leadership and commitment to international humanitarian law. The humanitarian communication is a testimony of this leadership. Three hundred million people need humanitarian aid.”
“Still, it is their need and experiences that must shape our acts. My plea today is clear. Please, dear Commissioner, we need to urgently increase the funding to those – especially women-led organisations – who are the first responders when the catastrophe happens. 4-0025-0000”
“Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, I was asking myself what kind of a charade is this? Rebuilding Gaza, really? For 1 000 days, the Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring unimaginable suffering, and they have not even elected the despicable terrorist organisation Hamas, still, they are paying the price for this narrative…”
“We still just speak these big words while 73 000 Palestinians have been killed, children have lost their limbs in thousands and many of them have been operated on without anaesthesia. Somewhere there has to be a heart – even in you, even in you! Somewhere there has to be a heart. 3-0236-0000”
“Mr President, I just wanted to say that I have never felt as unsafe in this Parliament as after the vote about the Return Regulation, because the shouting of the far right was not against the political opponent, it was 'send them back'.”
“So what can the European Union do, in your view, in order to protect human rights in Iran? 2-0103-0000 Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew), blue-card answer. – A very good question. Thank you for this question.”
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“Still, it is their need and experiences that must shape our acts. My plea today is clear. Please, dear Commissioner, we need to urgently increase the funding to those – especially women-led organisations – who are the first responders when the catastrophe happens. 4-0025-0000”
“Madam President, let me first start with thanking you, dear Commissioner Lahbib, for your principled leadership and commitment to international humanitarian law. The humanitarian communication is a testimony of this leadership. Three hundred million people need humanitarian aid. Behind every number, there is a face, there are dreams, hopes, aspiration. There is a life that is uprooted and destroyed. It is the women in Sudan who walk through the desert in search for help. They are raped, they are beaten, they are witnessing massacres, only to find that there was no one to help. It is the children in Gaza who survived the war, but their parents and communities did not. Many of them are disabled and all of them traumatised. These are the voices that are never heard in this Chamber. They are never invited.”
“We still just speak these big words while 73 000 Palestinians have been killed, children have lost their limbs in thousands and many of them have been operated on without anaesthesia. Somewhere there has to be a heart – even in you, even in you! Somewhere there has to be a heart. 3-0236-0000”
“Mr President, Madam Commissioner, dear colleagues, I was asking myself what kind of a charade is this? Rebuilding Gaza, really? For 1 000 days, the Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring unimaginable suffering, and they have not even elected the despicable terrorist organisation Hamas, still, they are paying the price for this narrative that is broadcasted in Europe – somehow it is still connected. 1 000 days of killings, even during the so-called ceasefire! Nothing seems to get a grip on us as Europeans. We are still unable to take any concrete action. Why haven't we suspended the agreement with Israel? Why haven't we forbidden imports from illegal settlements? Why haven't we acted?”
“Mr President, I just wanted to say that I have never felt as unsafe in this Parliament as after the vote about the Return Regulation, because the shouting of the far right was not against the political opponent, it was 'send them back'. It was about ordinary people who did no other crime than looking for a better life in Europe, and shouting about ordinary people who are not present in the room, it is a new, new low level even for the fascists on the far right. And I hope that you, as Chair of the sessions, also take care about our safety here in the Chamber and stop that kind of behaviour, because that is far beyond what racism is, far beyond what hatred is against ordinary people who have not done anything but come here to Europe to seek for a better life. We can have a political debate, we can argue against it ...”
“So what can the European Union do, in your view, in order to protect human rights in Iran? 2-0103-0000 Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew), blue-card answer. – A very good question. Thank you for this question. I do believe that the EU and the Member States together in the UN can push further for the reform of the UN, because the UN has not served everyone equally. We see it in the Global South, the global majority in the South, how they have been underserved, how their interests, their human rights have not been implemented nor have they been guaranteed by all these beautiful declarations. We know that statements, press releases and declarations do not stop bombs from falling. We know that they do not feed the starving children. We need to reform the UN. It is our only path forward, and the Member States together can actually make a true difference.”
“I am furious that it is always the others who are paying the price for this craziness. It's always women, children, persons with disabilities, who never chose these wars, who never were in these rooms where these decisions were made. We have to act now. It's high time for the EU to put these words into actions. (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question) 2-0102-0000 Davor Ivo Stier (PPE), blue-card question. – Dear colleague, I fully agree with you when it comes to the respect of international law. One of the first things to be respected is, of course, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is systematically violated in Iran by a brutal regime. But that regime somehow has the support of permanent members of the Security Council that will block any action of the international community.”
“Madam President, peace requires courage, peace requires leadership, and peace requires actions. The deal between the US and the regime in Iran might offer an opportunity for peace. But opportunities alone do not create peace; we have to act now. We have to use our diplomatic influence to reduce the tensions throughout the entire region of the Middle East. We have to use our economic and political leverage to pressure and to support peace, accountability and human rights. And we have to defend international law – always! Madam Vice‑President, I am tired of watching old men destroy the international rules‑based order. I am furious that they start wars, uphold occupation, weaponise humanitarian aid, while they enjoy wealth, while they enjoy impunity, while they enjoy power.”
“Det vi behöver är att kriminalisera och behandla rekrytering av barn online såsom terrorist content. Det är det vi behöver göra. Jag tänker aldrig acceptera att vi börjar behandla barn som förbrukningsvaror. 3-0477-0000”
“So I restate my question: what exactly is a woman that a man violates? 1-0104-0000 Abir Al-Sahlani (Renew), blue-card answer. – My dad taught me once that when a person lacks arguments, then they look for the seeds of the watermelon in the garbage. This is exactly that kind of debate. Why don't you let everyone decide what they are? It's not your role as a politician to identify people – it's not your role! Do you know what your role is? What your responsibility is? Give us protection! Only 'yes' means yes, everything else is rape. That's it. 1-0105-0000”
“You have already chosen sides and we as women collectively are tired of your racism, of your sexism, of your lack of responsibility. We are tired of you. Just take responsibility for once. If you cannot say that only yes means yes, then you have chosen the side of the rapists. (The speaker agreed to take a blue-card question) 1-0103-0000 Cristian Terheş (ECR), blue-card question. – I love debates, too! You are claiming that we should move away from so‑called legal jargon. But laws are defined in two words: objective realities. You just claimed right now – an outrageous claim – that men are violating women. But I'm asking you to please clarify, what is a woman? Because people in your group are claiming that a man who pretends to be a woman should, in the eyes of your law, be acknowledged as a woman.”
“Madam President, stop hiding behind legal jargon. Stop hiding behind your pretended care for women. Just stop it. Because this is very simple, straight-to-the-point legislation. We are just asking that only yes means yes. The lack of it, therefore, means no. The lack of it, therefore, is rape – no matter what the colour of the man is, no matter the age, the length, the width. Men are raping. Men are violating. Men are the ones who are taking control over women's bodies. If you don't believe me, ask the 62 million viewers who watched wives and girlfriends being drugged and raped and streamed online. Ask them. This is not the defence of rule of law. This is not the defence and protection of women. Yet you turn this into migration somehow. It's amazing. You know what?”
“Madam President, I want to draw this House's attention to a shocking case: a woman in Malta was sentenced to prison after going to hospital with heavy bleeding, and instead of receiving medical care, she was reported to the police. Just think about that for a moment. A woman seeking medical attention was treated as a criminal. Her sentence must be immediately overturned – because not in Malta, not in Europe a hospital must ever become the first step to a prison cell. Criminalising abortion does not end abortion; it only puts women's lives in danger, and that has no place in Europe. 1-0047-0000 (The sitting was briefly suspended) 1-0049-0000 IN THE CHAIR: ESTEBAN GONZÁLEZ PONS Vice-President”
“Den svenska regeringen måste också erkänna att vi i Sverige inte har tillräckligt, och ett väldigt splittrat, regelverk, som gör att många barn blir utsatta. Det är så att många kvinnor blir tystade av den här typen av mobbning, och det är ett hot mot vår demokrati. (Talaren godtog en fråga ("blått kort").) 2-0411-0000 Lukas Sieper (NI), blue-card question. – Thank you, colleague, for accepting my blue card. I think you said something very important in the beginning about how the internet shall not be a place for harassment, for threats. Of course, when we think about this in this debate, we think about minors, we think about women especially, but I think especially we should also think about ourselves as human beings. So, I followed your social media quite recently and I know that you are also often the target of such things.”
“Herr talman! Internet ska vara en plats för gemenskap, frihet, kunskap, möten. Inte en plats för hot, inte en plats för hat, inte en plats för trakasserier eller mobbning. I Sverige utsätts ett av sex barn för nätmobbning. Det betyder 10 miljoner barn i EU, om man tar de siffrorna på EU-nivå. Det sker ofta i tystnad. Nätmobbning påverkar deras psykiska hälsa, deras skolgång och känsla av trygghet. Därför måste skolan, polisen och plattformarna samarbeta, men det kan inte ske av sig självt, utan det måste finnas tillräckligt med resurser. Det måste också finnas en juridisk grund att stå på. Därför måste kommissionen titta på alla möjliga lagstiftningar som vi har i dag och vända på varenda sten och tänka utanför boxen.”
“The attacks on the Kurdish areas have to stop now. A ceasefire has to come now. And the de facto siege on Kobani has to be lifted now. Kurds: we see you; we hear you; you have more friends than the mountains in the European Parliament. 2-0285-0000”
“Mr President, somehow, a debate about the dire situation in Syria has turned into a migration debate by the far right. That's amazing. But President, dear colleagues, when al-Sharaa took power, we all accepted him with a very bitter taste. So today I'm standing here in Kurdish traditional dress to honour the Kurdish women and the people who have paid a very high price for their freedom. When they answered our call for help in trying to face Daesh, ISIS – the most horrible terror organisation, they were not only defending their homes, but they were also defending our freedom. Kurds are asking for our help now. The roles are reversed. Protection that is denied is injustice. And injustice that is postponed is a justice that is denied. Kurdish women are not left alone even when dead, because when they die, the terrorists cut off their braids.”
“Mr President, woman, life, freedom. Three words that shook the world. Today, they echo again through the courage of the Iranian people who are fighting on the streets. Yet we as Europeans have not raised to their courage as we did before. Am I angry with the grey, half-hearted statements by the European Union? No, I am profoundly furious. Be concrete – offer humanitarian visas for activists. Break the internet blockade. Designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. Engage with the democratic opposition in Iran to facilitate a democratic transition and invoke responsibility to protect the UN Security Council. These are not radical demands. They are our obligations because history will not judge us by our statements, but by whether we stood with courage or hid behind procedure while people were killed, because silence kills also.”
“Herr talman! När vi politiker var hemma över jul, för att fira med våra nära och kära och vila, slog ondskan och våldet till mot kvinnor i Sverige. Två kvinnor dödades av två män, en i sitt eget hem och en som var på väg hem. Barn bevittnade våld i sina egna trygga miljöer – eller det som ska vara trygga miljöer. Linjerna till kvinnojourerna och barnrättsorganisationerna gick varma. Det händer varje jul. Det är inte oförutsägbart och det är ett bevis på den svenska regeringens misslyckande med att upprätthålla någon form av skyddssystem, också över ledigheterna, för kvinnor i dessa våldsamma organisationer. Oavsett skyddssystem eller lagar som vi skriver måste jag vända mig till männen. Det krävs män. Män som vågar säga ifrån mot sexismen, män som vågar bygga trygghet och män som väljer att stå på kvinnornas sida. Om inte männen, så vem?”
“And thank you also for your strong advocacy for a more robust and efficient humanitarian aid policy and the budget to match it. The Commission and I look forward to continuing this work with you and the Member States to meet the challenges – and how many of them – ahead. 1-0185-0000”
“The EUR 25 billion proposed by the Commission as a baseline for humanitarian aid within Global Europe would ensure credible support for urgent humanitarian needs and preserve the EU's leading global role. The flexibility embedded in the proposal for Global Europe will also allow us to respond faster and more effectively when new crises hit. At the same time, the Humanitarian Aid Regulation will remain the legal basis for all EU humanitarian aid. This guarantees the specific nature of humanitarian assistance and protects its four core principles: humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence. Honourable Members, thank you again for your valuable work on this report. It will be a source of inspiration for the communication and for the Commission as we prepare the upcoming communication.”
“That means taking a more integrated approach to fragility – from root causes to transitions and to long term solutions. And it means stronger partnerships with development donors, development banks, international financial institutions, the private sector and, of course, philanthropies. Honourable Members, on the next multiannual financial framework, the Commission welcomes your call to significantly increase humanitarian funding, to build in more flexibility and safeguard humanitarian principles. Bringing EU humanitarian aid under the new Global Europe instrument will help us act more coherently and better link humanitarian aid with efforts to address the root causes of fragility.”
“So we are focusing on practical solutions: shared supply chains, joint procurement, better digital tools, more cash assistance and higher quality funding. We will also step up localisation. Our approach is very simple: as local as possible, as international as necessary. That means doubling our funding for local actors and giving local responders the tools to lead. Our third focus is partnerships. Building an integrated EU response to fragility will be at the heart of this communication. This is a top priority for me and I know it is also for you. More than seven out of ten people living in extreme poverty today live in fragile countries or contexts. We cannot solve humanitarian crises or achieve sustainable development without tackling fragility.”
“That is why we are stepping up humanitarian diplomacy to better protect civilians, aid workers – especially local responders – children, and protection against gender-based violence. With this communication, our diplomacy, funding and advocacy serve one goal: protecting human dignity and making sure help reaches those who need it most. Our second priority is performance. The funding gap has exposed real problems in the humanitarian system: fragmented responses, duplication and too much competition for resources instead of cooperation. One example is the humanitarian supply chain – the backbone of any response. Separate procurement and logistics drive up costs and reduce efficiency. This is an area where we can do better.”
“We welcome its clear call for more humanitarian funding, for more flexibility to respond faster and more effectively to growing needs and for a more integrated approach to fragility. We also strongly support its focus on defending international humanitarian law and protecting aid workers. I fully agree that we need to take concrete action that genuinely increases the EU's impact. These priorities will be at the heart of our humanitarian communication that we will present in the second quarter of this year. Honourable Members, this humanitarian communication will be built around three clear priorities: protection, performance and partnerships. First, protection. Today, more than ever, we must reaffirm our strong commitment to international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles.”
“So, Europe, the EU and you finally are actually the last force standing. Consider this report a strength to you as well. We, the people, are saying that we have to stand up for international humanitarian law. 1-0183-0000 (Koniec vystúpení na základe prihlásenia sa o slovo zdvihnutím ruky) 1-0184-0000 Hadja Lahbib, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, honourable Members, my thoughts as well are with the Spanish people, the victims of the train accident and their families. Let me start by thanking the Parliament and the DEVE Committee for your strong support for humanitarian action. And I want to personally thank Leire Pajín for her commitment to this report and to humanitarian aid. Indeed, this report comes at a crucial moment.”
“Mr President, I would like also to start by giving my condolences to the people of Spain due to the horrible accident that has happened in the country. Madam Commissioner, thank you for being here and thank you for always promising and for delivering on your promises. And this will be an urge to continue to deliver on the promises that you have made, especially when it comes to the humanitarian aid and fragility context. I know that we are looking forward to a new strategy from your side, because never before has international humanitarian law been so challenged. Never before have humanitarian workers being killed in these numbers. Never before have humanitarian organisations been doubted, questioned, but also prosecuted by big international players. Never before has the UN lost so much.”
“This oral amendment is done just to clarify and add to the facts of the alternative resolution. 3-0184-0000 (Il Parlamento non accetta di porre in votazione l'emendamento orale) 3-0185-0000 (Con questo si conclude il turno di votazioni) 3-0186-0000 (La seduta è sospesa alle 12:48) 3-0188-0000 SĒDI VADA: ROBERTS ZĪLE Priekšsēdētāja vietnieks”
“That's why I would like to introduce an oral amendment as follows: 'Recalls that in its Decision on the registration of the ECI, the Commission stated that "there seems to be no straightforward targeted interference with the competences of Member States to define their own health policy and the organisation of their health services by the simple fact of providing financial support to provide this type of health service"; recalls that according to the Treaty, "The European Parliament and the Council … may also adopt measures designed to protect and improve human health and in particular to combat the major cross-border health scourges"; highlights that EU resources have been used to directly finance or co-finance health services in the Member States in other cases, within the EU's supporting competences;'.”
“Madam President, it came as a surprise to us who have been working with this text and resolution for a while that there was an alternative resolution invoking the principles of subsidiarity, given that the Commission has already stated that this Citizens' Initiative falls within the EU competence in relation to cross-border health services. Subsidiarity does not appear to be an issue for Mr Bellamy and company when the Commission proposed the EU financial incentives for cross-border support to cancer screenings within the EU4Health programme.”
“But we won't, because when they go low, we go high, and that's why we invited Ms Francesca Albanese to this House. I would like to extend my personal invitation to the far-right colleagues to come ask your questions, say your opinions, because this is what we do in a democratic society. But something tells me that when wisdom comes running to you, you will find a way to run away faster. 1-0044-0000”
“Madam President, in accordance with Rule 118, I would like to make this House aware that on 28 October, the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, His Excellency Danny Danon, called the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian occupied territories, Ms Francesca Albanese, a 'witch', and her report a 'spell book'. I would like to ask you, Madam President, to call upon the Israeli Ambassador to the EU and remind him that that kind of rhetoric led Europe to burn women who were opinionated, who were free, who were inconvenient, alive. Remind him that that kind of rhetoric does not belong in a democratic conversation, because if we would have used the same rhetoric, we would be calling His Excellency Danny Danon maybe a sexist, a misogynist, or a douchebag, I don't know.”
“We cannot have products from violent settlers' stolen land. We have to stop the land theft in the West Bank and the settler violence. And there is no other solution than the two-state solution, because Israelis owe it to the Palestinians, and the Palestinians well damn deserve their own state now. 2-0039-0000”
“Madam President, on my way here this morning, I was looking at my phone and I had to see yet another Palestinian mother hug her kid, calling him to wake up from his death. Yet another mother, yet another parent, had to bury their child. What role can the EU play for these people? My answer would be to make the short lives of these kids, and their violent deaths, matter. And how can we do that? Yes, we know that peace cannot be achieved only when justice is served. That's why the EU has to, first, stop the Association Agreement with Israel, because we cannot be associated with war criminals. Two, we have to fully support the ICC and ICJ, because these war criminals have to stand in responsibility and end the impunity on both sides, Hamas and Israel. We have to stop the settler economy.”
“We need also to focus on and prioritise women and girls in our humanitarian response, because we have to be the force that carries and the force that empowers girls and women in Afghanistan. 2-0443-0000”
“Mr President, allow me to speak directly to my sisters in Afghanistan: all my respect for your fight and resilience, for your strength and courage. We see you, we hear you, and we are going to fight with you. Because we – women in Europe – know the fight for gender equality too well. But those who are trying to oppress us here just come in nicer suits. I know that gender equality is possible in Afghanistan, even if being a woman today in Afghanistan feels like being trapped in a nightmare. There is no doubt there is a gender apartheid in Afghanistan. And Madam Commissioner, we have to, as an EU, work towards having gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.”
“Thirdly, the outcome will be for the powerful ones and not for the victims. Fourth, the gains that are won on the battlefield will be permanent political gains. We all know that there cannot be peace without justice because it is very much needed... (The President cut off the speaker) 2-0206-0000”
“Madam President, today we are thinking about the victims of the terrorist attack on 7 October and their families. Peace is needed and it has been needed for the last 70 years. So let's talk about the peace plan then, and here, I really need the Commission to listen, because this plan comes at a time when several international organisations and bodies of authority and human rights organisations have concluded that after two years of violence, the atrocities in Gaza meet the threshold for genocide. What are the risks with this plan then? First, it risks locking in impunity, because how can two parties that are deemed by the International Court of Justice being war criminals, actually will lead to responsibility? Secondly, it risks to rewrite the responsibility of the attack, of what is going on.”
“Not as a favour to you, but because the Slovak people belong in Europe. I am convinced that with the Slovak people, and because of our colleagues in progressive Slovakia, democracy will prevail and your attempt to turn your country into an autocracy will fail. 3-0502-0000”
“Madam President, Robert Fico – you are following the schoolbook of the crackdown on democracy and human rights. We've seen it before; you go after the LGBTQI+ persons, you go after the right of safe, legal abortion. You then go after the next group and the next group. You incite corruption. The freedom that you are enjoying, the democracy that brought you to power, the rule of law that is protecting your rights as much as anyone else's rights; these are principles and values that were fought for by the Slovak people long before you came to power. They were fought for with sweat, tears and blood. These are not for you to be used for your own agenda. You are turning your own country into Putin's Trojan horse, inside the very Union that contributed to the prosperity of your country.”
“Madam President, this debate is both factually and morally wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. And two factual wrongs you will find already in the name of this debate. There is no mass migration to Europe, but in fact, there is a 66 % drop in the applications of asylum. The second wrong is the EU-wide data shows that sexual violence is committed by EU nationals, by men who are known to the women in their own homes. The common denominator here is spelled M-E-N, men. That is where the wrong is. The far right are twisting facts into an ignorant, hate-fuelled portrayal of migrants. Correlation does not equal causality. Women's rights organisations are rejecting your cynical weaponisation of our pain for your racist agenda. I have my voice. Don't you dare claim to represent it. 3-0217-0000”
“No more hiding behind 'We are sending money', because when the money is there, the aid is stopped. It's not reaching the starving people. 3-0173-0000”
“Madam President, for too long have we spoken of Palestinians suffering. For too long have we done close to nothing. Just sending money over is not enough anymore. I know that there is not so much you can do, Madam Commissioner. But there are some things that actually you can take a lead on, and be the one who will redefine how history will look at us. There are 40 000 displaced in the West Bank; nearly 60 000 people dead in Gaza. But we still lack an EU common action. We need actions. No more words. Stop the Association Agreement – that's where you can take a lead, Madam Commissioner. Sanction the Netanyahu regime, like we have done with the Russians – there you can also take a lead, Madam Commissioner. Sanction the settler economy – there also you can take a lead, Madam Commissioner. We need a leadership of action. No more words.”
“You have the chance to be one of those who will rewrite our complicity with the silence that we have. Europe should not reward war criminals and acts of war crimes with trade deals. It's time to end the Association Agreement with Israel. 2-0552-0000”
“Mr President, earlier today, 51 Palestinians were killed by Israeli tanks just because they were standing in line for food. They were starving. They were not armed terrorists. The Israeli‑backed humanitarian fund is nothing else but a war strategy of Netanyahu. In Stockholm, in The Hague, in Brussels, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets showing a red line, marching for a ceasefire, for ending this war on the people in Gaza, showing more leadership than many of those who are European leaders today. Thank you to all of you who are demonstrating or taking to the streets, showing us that Europe is not only its leadership. Next week, the leaders of the EU have the opportunity to actually take action. And you, Commissioner, you have the chance to be one of those who will define history.”
“Write to your Members of Parliament, call your government, email your representatives, ask for them to push for the stopping of the Association Agreement with Israel during the review time. It is a history-defining moment. Let the people of Europe be the ones who define that history. 1-0106-0000”
“Madam President, Commissioner, representative of the Council, dear colleagues, I'm tired of having this debate in this Chamber. So now I'm speaking to the people of Europe directly. I know, like me, the eyes of the starving children in Gaza, the pictures of the shredded bodies of the children in Gaza are haunting you. 14 000 children are on the brink of death – 14 000, by the end of today – as a direct result of the Israeli siege. And finally, we have seen some movement yesterday. Finally, the Council agreed to review the Association Agreement with Israel. And it is thanks to you, the people of Europe, you made that possible. So don't stop now, don't look away.”
“Madam President, thank you for giving me the word on the point of order. I noticed that both Ms Bentele and Mr Leggeri had symbols on their jackets that resemble the association that you also made to the symbols of Ms Boylan and I wish to just draw your attention to that. If we want to have no symbols at all, then I suppose that we should not have symbols at all. 1-0095-0000”
“It starts with seriously committing by the Israeli side, by Netanyahu, to the ceasefire deal, ending the violence in the occupied West Bank and lifting the ban on UNRWA. And the EU must invest in the rebuilding of Gaza without forced displacement. Let this be very clear: you cannot have safety and peace in Israel if you do not have safety and peace in Palestine. All human rights matter, enough with the double standards. 2-0338-0000”
“Mr President, Commissioner, representative of the Council, dear colleagues, President Trump says that he is committed to buying and owning the Gaza Strip. He says that the Palestinians can get much better housing in neighbouring countries. Wow. I did not know, actually, that the conflict in Israel and Palestine was about better housing. And you know what? Surprisingly enough, Prime Minister Netanyahu says it's an innovative proposal. And the world is silent. It may come as a surprise to you, Mr. Donald Trump, but neither people, their rights nor their lands are up for sale. On 25 February, the EU-Israel Association Council is meeting, and we from this House do not expect anything less than the utmost pressure on the Netanyahu Government to commit to a long-term peace, and let me tell you how it starts.”