UPDATE: MEP Martusciello, organizer of the meeting, comunicated this morning to BDS Italy that the meeting has been canceled!  

Dear Fulvio Martusciello, MEP
Dear Members of the Delegations for relations with Israel and with the Palestinian Legislative Council,

We are deeply troubled to learn of the meeting with Israeli Major General Yoav Mordechai organized by the Delegation for relations with Israel for the European Union. We are writing to you as chair of the delegation to urge you to consider the incongruity of this initiative with European Parliament positions with respect to Israel violations against the Palestinian population.

Mordechai, among other positions held in the past, was commander of the Thirteenth Battalion of the Golani Brigade, an elite unit of the Israeli army, during the offensive against the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009, better known as 'Operation Cast Lead', which cost the lives of over 1,400 Palestinians, 83% of whom were civilians. On 15 January 2009, Mordechai was in command of one of the battalions involved in the attack on the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, one of the most brutal assaults of the entire offensive, in which white phosphorus was also used.

Since January 2014, Mordechai is head of COGAT, the office of the Ministry of Defense responsible for coordinating the activities of the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories. COGAT also deals with the safeguarding and upkeep of illegal Israeli settlements. The European Parliament has expressed in no uncertain terms its position on the illegality of these settlements, most recently in the December 17, 2014 resolution recognizing, in principle, the state of Palestine, as has the United Nations Security Council in a number of resolutions. In addition, the transfer of the occupying power's population to settlements in occupied territory is a war crime, as established by Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Therefore, by virtue of his official position as head of COGAT, General Mordechai must be regarded as taking part in war crimes.

Certain that this is not news to the State of Israel, which has sent forth Mordechai, in view of the above and of the positions expressed by the European Parliament, such a representative should be seen as unacceptable, if not a mockery, to the institutions of the EU, not to mention the lack of credibility in terms of constructive dialogue with a person involved in international crimes. Yet you, Mr. Martusciello, described the meeting, in a note sent to your colleagues, as an opportunity to further the dialogue with Israel. It is worth recalling that in September 2014, Israel was not inclined to dialogue, denying a delegation of 13 MEPs entry to the Gaza Strip.

We are not opposed dialogue; however certain conditions must be imposed in order for it to be sincere and constructive. The European Parliament is hardly the proper venue to give a platform to Israeli propaganda. Until Israel demonstrates that it gives due consideration to the legitimate demands of the EU to end its discriminatory policies and violence imposed on the Palestinian people in violation of international law, it has no place in European institutions.

Ten years have passed since the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice ruled illegal not only the Wall built by Israel in occupied territory, but also the settlements. It also established the applicability of the law of occupation throughout the occupied territory, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Israel meanwhile has not only continued its illegal policies, denying the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination but has also adopted increasingly sophisticated discriminatory practices typical of apartheid regimes.

As European citizens, we demand that the European Parliament, representing the people of the 28 member states, not be used to give a platform to Israeli propaganda and that any relationship with Israel be conditioned on concrete measures of compliance with international law, as repeatedly requested by the institutions of the Union and by EU Parliament itself, starting with ending the illegal blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, the construction of settlements and the illegal confiscation of land in the West Bank; halting arbitrary arrests of Palestinians, including children, and their transfer to prisons outside the occupied territory, and stopping torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of Palestinian prisoners.

The EU must not continue to foot the bill for the destruction and the humanitarian crisis created by Israeli violations of international law, not the least of which the attacks launched against the Gaza Strip last July. If, as stated in its December 2014 resolution, the EU truly wants to contribute to the negotiations and the peace process, it should start by imposing consequences for Israel, including the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, rather than lending itself as an amplifier for Israel's militaristic and colonial policies. Initiatives such as the one you have organized today, involving someone likely involved in war crimes, seriously undermine the credibility of the European Parliament and of the Union's common foreign policy.

We therefore urge you to cancel the meeting with General Mordechai. If it should take place, we call on all members of European Parliament to refrain from participating.

We look forward to your response and are available to provide further information.

BDS Italy
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www.bdsitalia.org

BDS Italia is a movement supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, comprised of associations and groups throughout Italy, who endorse the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society and work to promote BDS campaigns and initiatives locally and nationally.