VALENCIA (Spain): Arab ministers walked out of the Euro-Mediterranean conference on Tuesday when Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres rose to speak. The walkout came as foreign ministers from 15 EU and ten Mediterranean countries gathered for the Euromed conference here on Monday and Tuesday.

The walkout came as no surprise. “It was the least we could have expected under the circumstances,” said the spokesman for Chris Patten, the European Union Commissioner on External Relations.

But less expected were the divisions that surfaced between the EU and Israel. Arab leaders on the other hand spoke of their happiness over relations with the EU.

Peres had few kind words for Europe at the meeting. “There is anti-Semitism in Europe,” he said. “They burn synagogues and we cannot stand it.”

Josep Pique, the Foreign Minister of Spain, warned against misuse of the term anti-Semitism by the Israeli authorities. “While the EU condemns without exception both the use of terrorism, and anti-Semitist actions, there should not be any temptation to confuse the call for legitimate political needs with anti-Semitism,” he said.

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel was clearly put out when Peres made a comment about the large numbers of anti-Semitists in Belgium and France. “This is simply not true,” he said.

Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian representative, struck a far different tune. “We came here to have a dialogue with Europe and we are very happy we did come,” he said at the conference.

Shaath told journalists that the meeting was never intended to re-launch the Middle East peace process. “The purpose is basically a meeting with Europe,” he said. “Any negotiations with Israel should take place back there in Palestine.”

The Palestinian delegation held a bilateral meeting with the EU ministers to discuss immediate humanitarian and reconstruction needs in the occupied territories.

Shaath described the meeting as fruitful. He said that the Palestinians and Europeans had come to several agreements, including immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories.

But while Shaath praised the Europeans, he sharply criticized US President George Bush. “However, we would still like to see Bush engage seriously in this peace process.” On this at least Peres appeared to agree. “The US and the EU must act together,” he said. “If they act separately they may deepen divisions.” —Dawn/InterPress Service.