Following their visit to Palestine Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales Euro MPs Jill Evans and Eurig Wyn will tomorrow (Wednesday) call on the European Parliament to demand an end to all arms trading with Israel as a clear indication that the international community will not tolerate further violence in the Middle East.

The all Wales MEPs were part of a European Parliamentary delegation that visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Jenin, Ramallah and Nablus on a four day fact finding visit last week. During their stay they held talks with representatives of both Israeli and Palestinian authorities, including Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Plaid Cymru leader in the European Parliament Jill Evans MEP said:

"The protection of civilians is paramount and the international community must send the clearest possible message to the Israeli government. In addition to demanding an end to all arms trading with Israel, we also want to see the immediate deployment of a UN peace-keeping force and humanitarian aid for those affected by the conflict."

"Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales also supports the suspension of the European Union Association Agreement with Israel which provides for preferential trade and political dialogue. European markets account for about 40% of Israel's trade and this will be a strong lever to encourage dialogue."

Eurig Wyn MEP added:

"Israel must withdraw immediately from the Palestinian territories as UN resolutions and many, many countries have called on them to do. The Israeli government has ignored appeals from the international community so far and further measures have to be taken to eradicate violence and encourage a peaceful settlement."

The Parliament will debate the issue tomorrow afternoon following a statement by Javier Solana, High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy on the situation in the Middle East.

Diwedd/Ends.

Note:

The Israeli representatives were Galia GOLAN (Director, Human Rights Project at the Free University of Jerusalem), Debby LERMAN (Coalition of Women for Peace) and Suha SIBANI (Director, Arab Association Committee for Education). The Palestinian representatives were Janwa RIAD DIJANI (Director, Palestinian Youth Department in Jerusalem), Maha ABU DAYE SHAMMAS (Director of the Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling) and Samia BAMIEH (Jerusalem Centre for Women - Jerusalem Link).