EU MEPs Demand that Civil Society Peacebuilding be included in G7 Leaders’ Communique
22 Members of the European Parliament from the Greens/EFA, the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), and Renew Europe groups have signed a letter urging European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to highlight the importance of civil society peacebuilding as an integral part of any viable process to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in the G7 Leaders’ communique.
The European Union, though not an official G7 member, plays a pivotal role as its 8th, non-enumerated member. This Thursday, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Italy to participate in the G7 summit, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is expected to be a key topic of discussion.
Echoing the demands of more than 350 peacebuilding organizations and supporter signatories, the MEPs’ letter urges EU leaders to center the efforts of Israeli and Palestinian civil society in the G7 summit. Learning from the failures of past diplomatic efforts to resolve this protracted conflict, the MEPs affirm that “to ensure the success of any diplomatic initiative, top-down negotiations among leaders must be matched this time by a peacebuilding process at the societal level” and insist that “there can be no sustainable peace without a critical mass of Israelis and Palestinians who can support and sustain a diplomatic agreement”.
In this context and based on those convictions, the MEPs requested the following language be included in the G7 leaders’ communique:
These MEPs – from across parities – jointly prioritized the voices of hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians, whilst fighting for their seats during critical election times. Their commitment to peacebuilding reflects a broader movement, with 37 UK parliamentarians issuing a similar plea to the UK leaders, and His Holiness Pope Francis signing a similar letter, demonstrating his support in front of 12,000 people at the Arena di Pace in Verona, Italy.
Read the letter below:
Signatories:
Alviina Alametsä
François Alfonsi
Maria Arena
Margrete Auken
Milan Brglez
Jakop G. Dalunde
Bernard Guetta
Heidi Hautala
Pär Holmgren
Alice Bah Kuhnke
Pierre Larrouturou
Karen Melchior
Erik Marquardt
Lydie Massard
Matjaž Nemec
Grace O’Sullivan
Kira Marie Peter-Hansen
María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos
Isabel Santos
Jordi Solé
Alex Agius Saliba
Salima Yenbou
