The Socialist International held talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders at crucial times for both, as Palestinian institutions live in the absence of their President, currently undergoing treatment in a hospital in Paris, and Israelis debate their disengagement plan for Gaza.
On the occasion of a meeting of the SI Middle East Committee, SIMEC, specially scheduled to discuss latest developments in the region, Thorbjorn Jagland, Chair of SIMEC and Luis Ayala, SI Secretary General, held talks on November 1 and 2 2004 in Ramallah with Mahmoud Abbas, responsible for the Political leadership of the PLO and Ahmed Qurei, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.
Later in Jericho, on the afternoon of November 2 in the first of a two-day session, the SI Middle East Committee convened for a meeting with Palestinian representatives to hear their views on the current situation. Participants included Nabil Shaath, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the PA, Saeb Erekat, Minister for Negotiations and Abbas Zaki, responsible for international relations of Fatah, among others.
On November 3, the Committee members convened in Jerusalem for their second session, this time held at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, with a similar purpose. Participants at this meeting included the leader of the Israeli Labour Party Shimon Peres, MK Amir Peretz, Chairman of the Histadrut, MK Colette Avital and MK Efraim Sneh, as well as members of the Yachad party, including MK Abu Vilan, Ruby Natanzou and Sheva Friedman.
The deepening of the tensions in the region, the increasing toll in human lives, the continuing spiral of violence and the lack of a political horizon for peace in the Middle East - major concerns for the Socialist International - formed the basis of the discussions which sought to define, in advance of the next SI Council meeting, the most effective ways in which the International can continue actively supporting efforts for peace. The Committee discussions and recommendations will be incorporated in a resolution to be presented to the SI Council on 15-16 November in Johannesburg.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
Chair of the Committee
Thorbjørn Jagland
(Norway, DNA)
Secretary General of the SI
Luis Ayala
FRANCE
Socialist Party, PS
Axel Queval
GERMANY
Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD
Wolfgang Weege
GREECE
Panhellenic Socialist Movement, PASOK
Costas Stefanidis
ISRAEL
Israel Labour Party
Shimon Peres
Colette Avital
Amir Peretz
Efraim Sneh
ISRAEL
Yachad Party
Abu Vilan
Ruby Natanzou
Sheva Friedman
NORWAY
Norwegian Labour Party, DNA
Kathrine Raadim
PALESTINE
Fatah
Abbas Zaki
Nabil Shaath
Saeb Erekat
Ilan Halevi
Ahmed Soboh
Hussein Abdel Khaleq
Hisham Mustapha
Faraj Zayud
PORTUGAL
Socialist Party, PS
Luis Amado
ROMANIA
Social Democratic Party, PSD
Adrian Severin
SWEDEN
Swedish Social Democratic Party, SAP
Kent Härstedt
International Union of Socialist
Youth, IUSY
Fikile Mbalula
Vincenzo Amendola
Anna Sjödin
Maurice Claassens
Ilias Antoniou
Silije Rygland
Socialist International Women, SIW
Ester Levanon-Mordoch
Socialist Group in the European Parliament
Véronique De Keyser
Socialist International Secretariat
Latifa Perry
If you are looking for an earlier meeting, please consult the LIBRARY section.