Plans by the European Union to send a mission and urge a ceasefire in Israel are "too little too late", Green Party MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, said today.
Calling for the EU to impose trade sanctions against Israel, Ms McKenna said that "The EU has been very swift in retaliating to the US raising its steel tariffs with similar trade sanctions. If it can impose sanctions for trade reasons, surely they can do the same for human rights reasons.
"The situation in Palestine is extremely alarming and the initiatives taken by the EU have not gone far enough. Even the threat of economic sanctions would be a powerful enough weapon that the EU could use as a lever to force the Israeli government to withdraw from Palestinian territories and reconvene peace talks," she said.
Ms McKenna welcomed the interventions by Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Cowen on behalf of two Irish women, Ms Mary Kelly and Ms Caoimhe Butterly, who are acting as human shields in Palestine.
She added that Ireland should urge the EU to impose trade sanctions on Israel as "the ultimate weapon to halt a conflict which is going completely out of control and could spread to the rest of the Arab world".
