Mohammed, who has died without his father being able to defend him, is just one of the many children killed from the bullets shot by the soldiers of the Israeli army, which, eight years after the signature of the peace agreements between Rabin and Arafat, continues to occupy militarily more of 80% of the territories occupied in 1967, forcing the Palestinian to live in Bantustan. Settlers also shoot, they occupy the Palestinian territories against international law and without the United Nations trying to impose the respect of their resolutions. They confiscate land, water and freedom to the Palestinians. A two-years-old child has been killed by settlers on Sunday evening.

What can we say of these new Israeli slaughters and Palestinian rebellion to which, once again, the young generations participate?

Again the children who throw stones? Not only, the Palestinian security forces have begun to shoot.

The outbreak had been expected for a long time. It's hard to believe in peace while in the Palestinian territories since 1993 the population of the settlers has grown from 141,000 to more than 200,000 by now. Hard to resist when you don't have a job and, to feed your children, like my friend Talal does, you work as a mason building settlements, maybe on the land that had been once owned by members of your family. Hard, when the soldiers prevent you even from breathing.

Ariel Sharon, a criminal, if you consider his responsibility in the Sabra and Chatila massacre, has been the ultimate provocation, but the responsibilities also fall back on the Government, which did not forbid his visit at the Temple Esplanade and allowed the soldiers shoot on a crowd of civilians, stones have been thrown, but this does not mean you have to shoot gunshots at man-height. They shoot to kill, also Father Battistella of the Latin Patriarchal in Jerusalem told that.

One cannot put the Israeli and the Palestinian violence on the same level. On one side there are a State and an army, which occupy a territory against any international rule, on the other side there is a people who is sick of humiliations and suffering. It's not a matter of Hamas or kamikaze actions. It's the rebellion of a people sick of being oppressed and occupied, may be also unsatisfied of its leadership and willing to decide for itself. And there is also the revolt of the Palestinians from inside Israel, who demonstrate not only for solidarity with their brothers but also to be citizens with full rights and not to be discriminated in Israel.

We must contribute to stop violence and negotiate, all the arm fires should be stopped, the Israeli soldiers have to leave, we have to start an international inquiry with the participation of the European Union and UN should protect the Palestinian people.

The UN should not only wish peace but also put its resolutions into practice.

In these days of pain I am telling to myself that if just the European Union and the UN, said clearly that the Palestinian people have the right of living in their land, that the UN resolutions 338, 242 and 194 claiming the coming back of the refugees have to be applied, this would have itself a shattering force and could by now shake the firm Israeli conviction of being allowed to oppress, to rob another people and to occupy other people's land, without being sanctioned.

The right to existence and security for the State of Israel is very important to us, but in the same way the right to the existence and the security for the Palestinian people is important to us, since these people should live in peace and justice in their own state, with Jerusalem being the shared capital of the two peoples and the two states.

Peace is built through dialogue, but in respect and affirmation of justice and law.

LUISA MORGANTINI President delegation European Parliament

for the relations with Palestinian Legislative Council

Strasbourg, 5 October, 2000