Palestinian foreign minister meets rights groups on EU measures
The talks focused on EU trade and investment curbs on settlements and on how rights groups monitor violations in the occupied territories.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Shahin met representatives of international human rights organizations in Madrid on Friday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of a symposium titled "Can the European Union Deliver Justice for the Palestinian People?" held at the Spanish Cultural Center.
The organizations taking part included Human Rights Watch, Open Society and Global Echo.
The discussions explored mechanisms the European Union could adopt to respond better to Palestinian demands, support the establishment of the State of Palestine and uphold Palestinian rights, especially the right to self-determination.
The talks focused on the obligations of third-party states, particularly bans on importing and marketing settlement products within EU member states and prohibitions on investing in settlements and in companies operating there.
Given that settlements built on occupied Palestinian land are illegal, participants also looked at ways to pressure states to cut economic and commercial ties and halt agreements linked to settlement activity.
Representatives of the organizations briefed Shahin on how they monitor and document violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Their reports, they said, cover violations by the occupying power, what they called colonist terrorism, the establishment of illegal settler outposts, displacement plans and other violations across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Middle East war, and the European Union has long supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.