Soft colonialism

Seth Frantzman
Terra Incognita/JPost
12 January '10

The lead car in a convoy of consular vehicles attempts to run over an Israeli security guard, and the drivers make obscene gestures at female soldiers. A car belonging to the Temporary International Presence in Hebron drives onto the sidewalk and parks illegally in front of Jerusalem's central post office so its occupants don't have to pay for parking while they drop off a letter. The Belgian Consulate in Jerusalem refuses to pay rent, living in the property for free for more than 20 years, because it doesn't recognize the owner's right to charge rent or Israel's right to adjudicate the matter. EU countries give millions of euros to people living here, aid earmarked either solely for Arabs or for NGOs that "break the silence" regarding IDF "war crimes," among other things.

These incidents and many others that take place on a daily basis in Israel and the West Bank are part of a creeping soft colonialism that has been going on since 1948. However these infringements on Israel's sovereignty have become more flagrant in recent years. Rather than according the country more respect, the foreigners - particularly Europeans - who come here, usually as part of some international or diplomatic mission, have increased their outward displays of nonrecognition of Israel's right to govern itself. The same foreigners who gladly submit to long border checks and security checks in Jordan, Morocco, Botswana or Malaysia believe they do not have to obey laws in Israel or in what they perceive as occupied territories.

ONE OF the strangest examples of this has been the dispute between the Belgian Consulate and the state over its property in the Talbiyeh neighborhood of Jerusalem. Villa Salameh was built in the 1930s by Marcel Favier, a French architect. It was named after the wealthy Arab family that lived in the house until 1948. After the war, it was classified as "absentee property" along with the properties of other Arabs who fled during the hostilities.

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