Euro-Med Assembly condemns Danish cartoons
MEPs and national MPs from the EU and Mediterranean countries have approved a resolution which "condemned the offence" caused by the Danish cartoons of the prophet Mohammed as well "as the violence which their publication provoked."
The two-day plenary session of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, held in Brussels, also urged governments to "ensure respect for religious beliefs and to encourage the values of tolerance, freedom and multiculturalism."
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Speaking during the parliamentary assembly, Egyptian parliament speaker Ahmed Sorour insisted that the cartoons published in Denmark and other recent events showed the existence of a cultural deficit.
Jordanian MP Hashem al-Qaisi also condemned the cartoons while remarking that it is not sufficient to deplore the cartoons as these things might occur again in another country.
But Danish parliamentarian MP Troels Poulsen, reacting to extensive criticism on Danish society over the issue, insisted that Danish society is based on both freedom of expression and religious tolerance.
He added that the government can not influence the media.
The Danish MP also said the violent reaction to the cartoons was disproportionate.
Resolution on Israel
The assembly also adopted a second resolution calling on the new Palestinian and Israeli governments to respect past commitments to the peace process.
During the debate, the deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, Hasan Khreishi, requested the EU to remove Hamas from the list of terrorist organisations.
Mr Khreishi also appealed for continued support to the Palestine Authority.
"Starvation will push the Palestine people into alliances you do not wish. A hungry man is an angry man," said Mr Khreishi.
Moroccan parliamentary Speaker Abdel Wahad Radi, remarked that the Israeli-Palestine conflict continued to be an obstacle to better relations between the west and the muslim world.
"We will have to talk to each other in order to achieve good neighbourliness. This conflict does not only hold our region hostage, but the entire world," he stated.
Addressing the assembly, European Parliament president Josep Borrell referred to the Mediterranean as "a concentrate of all the problems facing humanity."
He said that after one year presiding over the assembly he "still did not fully understand the complexities of the Mediterranean."









