The Dutch parliament is struggling to agree on a response to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, with several parties refusing to sign a motion calling for a thorough review of future humanitarian aid to Palestine.
In addition to the review of aid to Palestine, the motion, tabled by MP Derk Boswijk (CDA/EPP), called on the cabinet to express its solidarity with Israel clearly and to lobby for the resumption of food and water supplies to the Gaza Strip. He was supported by outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD, the liberal D66, Volt and NSC’s Pieter Omtzigt.
Boswijk called on the cabinet to “continue humanitarian aid to Palestine” for humanitarian and stability reasons and to continue “thorough screening” of this aid to ensure that none ends up in Hamas’s hands.
Labour MP Kati Piri, also speaking for the Greens, took issue with Boswijk’s demand.
“It implies something that is not there,” she said. “There is no reason to believe that Dutch development money will end up with Hamas.
While stating that she agreed with “95%” of the motion’s content, Piri justified her refusal to sign the motion by pointing out that “it is important to choose our words carefully”.
The Labour MP criticised that the motion did not refer to innocent Palestinian victims nor the possibility of a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Previously, fissures had surfaced within Piri’s party due to the lead candidate for the joint list of the Labour and Green (GL/EU Greens) parties, Frans Timmermans, expressing his solidarity with Israel immediately following the attacks.
The move had irked several GL members, who subsequently launched a petition urging Timmermans and GL leader Jesse Klaver to recant their pro-Israel statements.
Meanwhile, MP Derk-Jan Eppink from the upstart agrarian interest party Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB) withdrew his signature from the motion at the last minute, saying he would like to consult with his fellow faction members as “it is a motion with many aspects”.
The motion will be voted on next Tuesday.
(Benedikt Stöckl | Euractiv.com)
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