Anna Lindh Foundation

CDA Member Council Middle East: Balancing Policy with Justice

The CDA Member Council Middle East (“CDA Ledenberaad Midden-Oosten”) in the Christian Democratic Party (“Christen Democratisch Appèl" - CDA) is established in 2009 by former Prime Minister Van Agt and former Foreign Affairs Minister Van den Broek, as a response to one-sided comments: "Israel is fully entitled to [...]", of then-Prime Minister Balkenende and Foreign Affairs Minister Verhagen on the Gaza-war of December 2008/January 2009. The Council is not a formal body within CDA, but generally accepted as a source of information about the Palestine/Israel conflict.

From day-one it has been the intention of the Council to make international law the guiding principle for CDA regarding Palestine and Israel. This in contrast to the attitude of the party at that point in time, which was strongly favouring Israel. The Council pursues a more active role by CDA regarding Palestine and Israel, based on international law and human rights. To this aim it meets with board members of CDA and members of parliament.

To improve the awareness about the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Council took the initiative to prepare a bi-monthly newsletter, with a strict format: 2 pages, a lead article about a major event or development, followed by four paragraphs: developments in Israel/Palestine (e.g. about settlement expansion, demolitions), international developments (e.g. initiatives by US, EU or UN), developments in the Netherlands (e.g. motions in the parliament) and lastly developments within CDA (e.g. statements by CDA members of parliament). 

This newsletter is sent to all CDA members of both chambers of parliament and the European parliament, central and local party-management and a few hundred individuals, both CDA-members and non-members. Anna Lindh member organizations are invited to subscribe to this newsletter by sending an email to cda.ledenberaad.mo@kpnmail.nl.

You should be aware that it is only available in the Dutch language.Recently the Foreign Affairs Committee of CDA published a memorandum regarding Palestine/Israel. The intention was to approach the conflict based on international law, but eventually the memorandum falls short of concrete actions that could be taken by the CDA members of parliament. Our Council wrote an 8-pages comment on it, that reconfirmed the positive elements in the memorandum, but also criticized the lack of action and suggested several additional recommendations.

Interested members can find the memorandum on the CDA website (https://www.cda.nl/cda-internationaal/nieuws/cda-commissie-buitenland-biedt-vernieuwd-advies-over-het-midden-oosten) and ask for the comments by the Council by mail (cda.ledenberaad.mo@kpnmail.nl).

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