Palestine, European betrayal (V. De Keyser)
(BRUXELLES2) The book, co-signed by the Belgian MEP Véronique de Keyser and S. Hessel (the latter having proofread different versions, drafted the introduction and encouraged the publication), and published by Fayard, is intended to be both a testimony and an analysis of European policy, carried out in the Middle East between 2005 and 2012. A reflection on the how, the why, the mechanisms, which have led to the current situation. Through a chronological description, the authors present and explain the most significant events in the peace process since 2005 (2006 elections, international sanctions, Operation Cast Lead, Arab Spring). They incorporate their analysis and criticism into it.
Like Stéphane Hessel (who passed away almost a year ago), Veronique De Keyser shares this sense of responsibility towards Palestine, but with a different perspective. As much as Hessel focused his questions on international law, questioning responsibilities in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Belgian MEP, specialist in the Middle East among the European Socialists, presents a more political analysis. Having taken part in various missions to observe the Palestinian elections and met a number of actors in the Middle East - from Jimmy Carter to Mahmoud Abbas, from Michel Rocard to Dov Viceglass and Javier Solana, Véronique de Keyser - whom B2 met (* ) - underlines how much “The guiding thread of the book was Mahmoud Abbas, an uncharismatic character, who was limited by the international community but who also allowed himself to be limited. » The original title of the book was "Abbas, the European betrayal".
For them, the European Union has not lived up to its status as a defender of democracy and the expectations of the Palestinian people. His policy is described as "treason", "cowardice"... The missed opportunities being too numerous and successive. “Europe could have, as a soft power, weighed on Israel, to lift the siege of Gaza, to freeze the expansion of settlements if it had wanted to. » On the contrary. Without raising the status of this country – formally frozen since Operation Cast Lead – Europe has continued to multiply its contracts with Israel. Despite everything, De Keyser “refuses to believe that there is no hope”. The current negotiations are a "last chance for a peace agreement under the usual conditions and formats" she underlines.
(*) Interview to be published on B2 The Club
• Palestine, European betrayal, Stéphane Hessel and Véronique De Keyser, Editions Fayard, November 2013, 280 p., 18 euros
