Mrs. Luisa Morgantini, the vice president of the European Parliament, visited the University today and met President Rami Hamdallah, at the presence of senior University officials. "To have the vice president of the European Parliament on our campus and working with her to help us to establish new ties with European universities is a tremendous honor for An-Najah,” said President Hamdallah.
Before the meeting Mrs. Morgantini gave a talk on "European Union policies regarding the Palestinian issue."  Mrs. Morgantini called on the Israeli government for the lifting of the blockade of the Gaza Strip and to fulfil its international obligations under the Geneva Conventions to guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid, humanitarian assistance and essential services.  She also stressed the need to lift the embargo on people and goods and the end of the military occupation.
She said that the European Union has to demand from the Israeli government that human rights and International law must be fully respected in the whole area, thus ending the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian Territories, where the confiscation of Palestinian lands continues without any condemnation.
"This is the only way to achieve a just and lasting peace in order to give more credibility to the peace process through reinforcing the negotiations based on the UN resolutions and on the right of Palestinians and Israelis to live in two States, in peace and security," she noted.   “I have found indeed brave and courageous people here,” Mrs. Morgantini said.   A lively Q&A session took place following Mrs. Morgantini's talk, which was attended by a large audience of scholars and students.  Prof. Hamdallah presented token gifts to Mrs. Morgantini.