Sarah speaking about Palestinian prisoners in Israel

Speech by Sarah Ludford delivered to European Parliament on Wed 9th Jul 2008

Mr President, I do not let Israel off the hook but it is extremely unhelpful for the European Parliament to single out one party - Israel - in a complex conflict where human rights abuses demand a balanced approach. A debate only on Israeli actions is also very bad timing.

Are we forgetting that our overriding aim is to encourage the parties to achieve a peaceful two-state solution? Only if our criticism is accurate and constructive and non-partisan will we be heard by both parties and have a brighter prospect of influence.

I think Human Rights Watch and the UN's Martin Scheinin achieved such a standard. The latter points out the significance of decisions of the Israeli Supreme Court - entirely absent from the oral questions. Even John Dugard's report said he was deeply concerned and condemned violations of human rights by Palestinians upon Palestinians and by Palestinians upon Israelis. No mention of that.

I regret that Israel still relies on emergency regulations of 1945 inherited from the British colonial power but it is worth noting that they have been applied to Jewish terrorists in Hebron as well as to Palestinian people.