“If we do not progress on the question of the recognition of the State of Palestine by the General Assembly (AG) of the United Nations in September, there will soon be nothing to recognize,” warned the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maxime Prévot, during the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee devoted, this Thursday afternoon, to the situation in Gaza.
“You did well to convene this meeting because the situation in Palestine does not know any respite. I am present here not by constraint but by conviction that one cannot remain an additional six weeks without taking a stand and without accounting for the population, “he immediately told parliamentarians.
“There has hardly had a government meeting to issue a specific mandate compared to this commission but, when I took an oath as minister, I de facto received the mandate to bear the coherence of our international policy. Here is the credibility of Belgian foreign policy which is at stake, beyond of course the top priority which is that of saving lives, “added Maxime Prévot, recalling that respect for international law must remain the compass of the Belgian position.
“Respecting this right is a practical response to concrete problems. Our government will still have an appointment with itself to deepen the questions of sanctions towards Israel and the recognition of a Palestinian state. These are meetings with history, with our moral obligations but also with our legal obligations-and I hope that the law still inspires the right, “continued the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
On the question of the recognition of Palestine, “I have the intimate conviction that we will have to progress on this question on the occasion of the UN General Assembly in September. The challenge is to match it with requirements likely to develop the situation in the field. Count on me to move the lines, ”said Maxime Prévot.
“Recognition is to take a political act of justice. It is not to punish Israel, it is not to reward Hamas, it is to restore a minimum of balance without which no peace is possible, “he argued. And to insist, by spending the previous governments: “Not to recognize Palestine is what we have done for 75 years and it did not work. Let us have the vigor to plead for this recognition today with the modesty of those who did not obtain it yesterday ”.
“To claim that the government is silent, that it says nothing, that it does nothing, is disinformation. The result is however insufficient since the situation on the ground is unbearable. We have to do more. It is our moral obligation but also, to the attention of those to whom it would not speak in the same way, our legal obligation, “concluded the minister.
He also announced an upcoming meeting with representatives of the Jewish community.
His long explanations, however, did not convince in the ranks of the opposition, the PS regretting in particular a “professorial” tone while these are acts that are expected. “We didn’t need you to properly help convince the MR. We need strong acts and positions, ”added, for Ecolo, Rajae Maouane. “We are not going to be satisfied with this meeting; want the Prime Minister to come back from his vacation because the genocide does not wait; We want to move forward, ”she warned.
“I am disgusted and shameful. Israel shoots children, murdered journalists, bombing schools and hospitals, and our government does nothing. No declaration, no sanction, no compassion, ”said Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen).
In the majority, Benoît Lutgen (the committed), on the contrary, estimated that the exchanges of this Thursday “made it possible to clarify the positions of each other”.
“Inspired by loyalty due between the majority partners, we must tell you that we support you and we hear your mobilization,” said Denis Ducarme (MR). “In Parliament, we do not know if you speak on your behalf or on behalf of the government and it is disturbing,” he said.
