Inter- European differences towards Palestinian situation

News reports said that the recent visit of the British foreign office secretary Jack Straw to the region did not only fail to draw a European common position towards the conflict in the Middle East, rather revealed the existence of deep differences between the European Union member states and the inability of these countries from carrying a real mediation role in the region.

The reports said that Straw's visit comes in the context of a contrasting framework to what the French foreign minister Hubert Vedrine is aiming for.

Vedrine considered that Straw's visit and the visit of the German foreign minister Yushka Fischer came in the context of a common European policy to maintain a political solution in confrontation of giving priority to security, as advocated by Israel and the US.

Straw considered in occupied Jerusalem that the first measure that it should be taken is to make the life of the Israelis more secure which means halting what he called "the terrorism coming from the Palestinian territories."

These differences revealed how much it will be difficult to reach a European initiative during the next meeting of the EU foreign ministers which will be held in Brussels on February 18.

Paris had proposed the recognition of an independent Palestinian state and this measure to be followed by elections in the Palestinian territories that pave the way to resuming negotiations. two matters which are completely rejected by the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon.