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Motion – supporting the Geneva Initiative |
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Motion
Reviving the road map and supporting the Geneva Initiative
The Bundestag is requested to adopt the following:
The German Bundestag states:
Finding a lasting political solution to the Middle East conflict is one of the central challenges of our time. Israelis and Palestinians should be able to live peacefully together as neighbours in freedom, justice and dignity, within secure and recognized boundaries, free from terror and violence. The road map, the peace plan put forward by the Quartet (USA, EU, UN and Russia), has not yet been able to restart the peace process. It requires an active policy on the part of all stakeholders, as well as the courage of the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government, to return to the negotiating table and to be prepared to make serious concessions that will pave the way to a permanent two-state solution.
The German Bundestag reaffirms its support for Israel's right to exist. This includes the right of every citizen to live within secure boundaries, free from fear, terror and violence. For us, this right is an intrinsic component of our solidarity and friendship with Israel. The German Bundestag condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks perpetrated against men, women and children in Israel. They cannot in any way be justified and it is imperative that they be stopped. The Palestinian Authority must - in accordance with the principles of the rule of law - demonstrate that it is doing everything in its power vigorously to put an end to terrorist activities carried out by the Palestinian side.
Israel has the right to protect its citizens from terrorist attacks and threats. But in so doing, it must make every effort to prevent casualties among the Palestinian civil population. The pertinent provisions of international law must be observed. Israel is called on to cease building new settlements, to remove the settlements erected after March 2001, to lift the obstacles impeding the daily lives of the Palestinian civil population and not to pre-empt the outcome of concluding negotiations by erecting walls and fences on the other side of the Green Line.
The German Bundestag recognises the legitimate right of the Palestinians to live in a democratic state that exists in peace and freedom side by side with Israel. The existence of two viable states, bound together in collective security in a regional peace and guaranteed by the international community, is a central element on the path to the peaceful co-existence of both peoples.
The German Bundestag welcomes initiatives on the part of Israelis and Palestinians that contain concrete proposals for a peace settlement. It welcomes, in particular, the Geneva Initiative, which presented detailed proposals for resolving the major contentious issues. The initiative demands compromises from both sides, but also offers long-term peace prospects.
The Geneva Initiative is not a counter-proposal to the road map; rather, it provides a concrete perspective to supplement it. The German Bundestag welcomes the positive comments made by various government members involved in the Quartet and hopes that the Geneva Peace Initiative will help to revive the road map process.
The German Bundestag is aware that the proposals contained in the Geneva Initiative were negotiated without a representative mandate, are not binding on any government and do not prejudice any official peace settlement. But the initiative demonstrates that there is a compromise line for even the most intractable questions on which representatives of both sides can agree.
For a stable and lasting peace in the Middle East to be ensured, the region's neighbours also need to participate in the peace process. Iran and Syria, above all, must play a more constructive role and resolutely end support for terrorist groups. The German Bundestag hopes that the Arab League will affirm its support for the declaration of the Beirut Summit in 2002 on a comprehensive peace with Israel and, beyond this, respond positively to the Geneva Initiative.
The USA has a special responsibility for the Middle East peace process. Without its firm intervention, the process will not succeed. Successful efforts to bring about a lasting and just peace settlement in the Middle East demand the greatest possible unanimity on the part of the Quartet. This remains a central task of German foreign policy, as well as of the common European foreign and security policy.
Berlin, 27 January 2004
Franz Müntefering and parliamentary group
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