Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Minister Riyad al-Malki today welcomed the Belgian Parliament’s resolution calling for punitive measures against Israel should it proceed with its illegal move to annex large swaths of the West Bank.
The Belgian parliament today morning passed with an overwhelming majority a non-binding resolution urging the government to act to prevent Israel from proceeding with its illegal annexation move and to actively advocate for European-wide punitive measures against Israel if it proceeds with its plan to annex the Jordan Valley together with its colonial settlements.
Al-Malki stressed that the resolution was passed in the context of mounting international response to Israel’s annexation plans and signals the formation of anti-annexation international front.
He expressed his belief that the motion indicates “the erosion of the support for Israel and its decades-long impunity” and sends a clear signal that international courts, the global civil society, parliaments and governments would not accept nor tolerate Israel’s annexation attempts, which are aimed at imposing apartheid in Palestine.”
The resolution, passed at the Chambers of Representatives in Brussels, was proposed by three politicians from the Greens, passed with 101 ‘yes’ votes and 39 abstentions. No one voted against.
It urges the government of Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès “to take the initiative with third countries, at European and multilateral levels, to prevent the annexation [by] Israel of the Palestinian territories, or parts of them.”
It further calls on Brussels to “play a leading role in the European and multilateral levels for the creation of a list of efficient counter-measures geared at responding in a proportional manner to any Israeli annexation of occupied Palestinian territory.”
The motion, submitted by three members of the Ecolo-Green party, which is part of the opposition, also urges the federal government “to take the initiative with third international locations, at European and multilateral ranges, to forestall the annexation [by] Israel of the Palestinian territories, or elements of them.”
