World must hold Israel accountable

Palestine: Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad said that despite setbacks he’ll keep trying to get other countries to squeeze Israel economically over West Bank settlement expansion.

The European Union voted earlier this month to move ahead with strengthening ties with Israel, without linking such an upgrade to a settlement freeze as Fayyad had requested.

“If I am disappointed, I am certainly not discouraged,” Fayyad said in an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday. “The point is, there is much better awareness in Europe now of this issue, something which did not exist before.”

Fayyad said he is not pushing for an economic boycott of Israel, noting that Israel is the Palestinians’ largest trading partner.

“This is about saying, ‘your settlements are illegal under

international law,”’ he said. The world needs to do more to hold Israel accountable, particularly on settlement construction, if peace efforts are to have a chance, he added. Palestinian leaders often complain about a failure to take Israelto task for breaking commitments, such as a settlement freeze required by the U.S.-backed “road map” plan.

In recent months Fayyad has tried a new approach, proposing practical steps European countries could take to help discourage settlement activity. In May, he wrote to 27 EU nations proposing a link between any upgrade in Israel-EU ties and a halt to settlement construction.

Fayyad also exchanged letters with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who said he wants to make sure products from West Bank settlements are denied favorable EU tariffs.

Under a 2003 agreement between Israel and the EU, settlement products must be clearly labeled. Brown wrote Dec. 9 that he wants to make sure the agreement is implemented effectively “and any abuse of the system fully investigated.” Brown also wrote that he’s looking into ways to discourage British citizens from buying property in settlements.

RAMALLAH, West Bank AP