European Union debates sanctions against Israel

Radio Havana Cuba, 8 April 2002

London, 8th April (RHC)—In the face of outright Israeli defiance against world opinion, the European Union today broached the possibility of applying economic sanctions against Tel Aviv if its attacks against the Palestinian Authority continue.

European ministers had already discussed sanctions last week but now seem resigned to applying those sanctions at their next meeting in Luxembourg this week.

The EU is especially upset at the waste of money donated to the new Palestinian autonomous areas for improved infrastructure. A new airstrip in Gaza, for instance, has been destroyed by Israeli troops.

More than 1.5 million Palestinians are confined to their homes by a round the clock curfew imposed by the Israeli army in the West Bank. Over 200 Palestinians and 11 Israelis have been killed since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ordered his troops to invade Palestinian cities across the West Bank. Fighting is especially fierce in the city of Nablus.

Critics in Europe say that Sharon is openly defying the entire world with his brute force tactics, laying the ground for more suicide attacks in a never ending cycle of violence.