Israel threatens to leave EuroMed parliament

"Every member of the parliament should look in the mirror and ask themselves: 'Have we supported the peace process in full or only one of the parties?'," said Israeli Deputy Education Minister Majali Wahabi, a Druze member of the Likud party, speaking in the Moroccan capital.

"Israel has made a major step towards peace by pulling out completely from the Gaza strip ... but we are criticised for everything that happens in the Middle East.

"We are fed up with being used as a punchbag for Arab members while the Europeans just sit and watch," he said.

"They must be objective. If not, I, who have fought for us to be members of this body, will tell my government and my parliament that we should leave."

However Mahmud Alkharabsheh, an independent Jordanian EuroMed deputy, criticised Israel for "occupying Palestinian lands and depriving the Palestinians of their nation".

"It is the occupation which generates violence and terrorism," he said.

"We, in Jordan, have been the victims of terrorist acts which are the consequence of the occupation of Palestinian lands and the occupation of Iraq" by US-led forces, he added.

On November 9, three suicide bombings on hotels in the Jordanian capital Amman by Iraqis purportedly belonging to Al-Qaeda killed 60 people and injured more than 100 others.

In his opening remarks, the speaker of the Moroccan parliament, Abdelwahab Radi, said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "represented the chief obstacle to Euro-Mediterranean solidarity" as well as a cause of "violence, tension and extremism" around the world.

However, Francesco Spedoni, an Italian lawmaker from the xenophobic rightwing Northern League, said he was "astonished" the assembly criticised Israel for failing to respect UN resolutions but did not do the same to Morocco over the Western Sahara.

"The UN has adopted a resolution according to which there should be a referendum in Western Sahara so its people can decide if they want to be part of Morocco or independent," he said.

Morocco had never respected the resolution, Spedoni noted.

The assembly should recall that because "if resolutions about the Palestinians are mentioned, then I do not understand why we cannot remember the UN resolutions on the Saharawi, who are a people in the same way as the Palestinians are, even if they don't carry out attacks", he added.

The EuroMed grouping began in 1995 to foster cooperation between the European Union and Mediterranean-basin partners.

It comprises the 25-nation EU, EU candidates Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Turkey, plus Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Tunisia.

The parliament, which has an entirely consultative role, has been in existence since 2003.

It brings together 120 European deputies, 75 from national parliaments and 45 from the European parliament, and 120 from national parliaments from Mediterranean member states.

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