The Palestinian National Authority welcomed Wednesday an European Union [2] (EU) report which recommended sanctions on Jewish settlement constructions in Israel [3] ' s occupied land.
The Jerusalem Report 2012, an annual study prepared by the EU missions in Jerusalem, said that the settlement activities prevent the city from becoming a capital for two states.
Riad Al-Maliki, Palestinian foreign Affairs minister, urged the EU council of ministers to "ratify the recommendations and take more practical attitudes to put pressure on Israel."
Welcoming the recommendations, Al-Maliki called on the EU "to make them applicable on the ground to save what could be saved of the two-state solution."
The report urged the EU's 27 member states to impose an economic boycott on the settlement activities and the products of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The EU's report comes ahead of a planned visit by U.S. President Barack Obama [4] to the region in spring. Obama will try to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which broke down in 2010 over a dispute on the settlement expansion.
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