Europeans Urged to Play Greater Mideast Role

Participants in a Middle East conference concluded Thursday that Western Europe should play a stronger role in trying to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Jean Penders, a Dutch member of the European Parliament, said the countries of the European Community could serve as intermediary for negotiations, provide peacekeeping forces and give technical and economic assistance to a new state.

The European countries, he said, should emphasize to Israel that it “has to accept the formula of land for peace.”

David Susskind, a leader of Belgium’s Jewish community, said it is “time for Europe to help (Israel and the Palestinians) build a peaceful situation side-by-side.”

Palestinian newspaper editor Hanna Siniora, who has been jailed by the Israelis, said there must be “a clear voice from Europe” raised against what he called Israeli repression in the occupied territories, the West Bank of the Jordan River and the Gaza Strip.

Siniora argued that European countries should help in education and health because Israel has closed schools in the territories and “discriminated against Arabs seeking health services in Israel.”

He recommended setting up a “Palestinian-Israeli-European Center” to monitor human rights violations in the territories.

A major reason the Europeans must become involved, he said, is that “they set political trends that are later adopted by the United States.”

The European Community, since its Venice Declaration of 1980, has been much more supportive of the creation of an independent Palestinian state than has the U.S. government.

Meir Pa-il, a retired colonel and peace activist and former member of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, said Europe should work to persuade the Israeli government to deal with the Palestinians.

The conference was sponsored by the Dutch and attended by Europeans, dovish Israelis and moderate Palestinians in an effort to determine what role the European Community might play in a peace process.

Sami Moussalem, director of the Tunis headquarters of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, said the European Community should be more than a matchmaker between Israelis and Palestinians.

The Europeans, he said, should not limit themselves to “just bringing the sides together.” He said they “have a very important role in confidence-building.”

Europe could act as a counterbalance to the superpowers in an international peace conference on the Middle East, Moussalem said.

Israelis attending the conference seemed to be unconcerned about an Israeli law that prohibits Israeli citizens from meeting with terrorists, including members of the PLO. Several members of the PLO were present.