Screaming Silence - Thundering Demagoguery

Frimet/Arnold Roth..
This Ongoing War..
12 December '12..


The more we think about what Europe's political leaders have just done, the more we are seething with anger.

Associated Press says the European Union warned Israel yesterday (Monday) of unspecified consequences if it goes ahead with something that Israel says it plans to do. The bloc's 27 foreign ministers are "deeply dismayed" by the Israeli plan. Sweden's foreign minister, Carl Bildt, says this something that the Israelis plan to do has caused "extreme concern" in the 27-nation European Union. It is so extremely concerning that Israel's plan "has shifted opinions in Europe" - against Israel, needless to say. Europe's political view of the Mideast, says Bildt, changed profoundly since Israel announced what it's going to do. Yet as serious as it is, Sweden's representative wonders out loud about the depths and breadth of Israel's comprehension: "I don't think the Israelis are aware of this." Something else the Israelis don't get, according to the Swede: "Israel shouldn't underestimate the level of European concern... The EU is "deeply dismayed". This thing Israel plans to do has hardened attitudes in the EU. It has "really shifted things inside the European Union to an extent that I don't think they have fully appreciated."

Those 27 ministers declared that if Israel should proceed with what it says it is going to do, this "would seriously undermine the prospects of a negotiated resolution of the conflict" [AP]. Israel's actions would amount to "a breach of international law", no less; they would require the Europeans to "closely monitor the situation and its broader implications and act accordingly". Reuters says that France's Hollande government wanted to have Monday's EU statement include a warning that Israel's actions would damage the relationship between Israel and the EU. (In the end, the statement did not contain such a comment.)

And - related to that same thing, naturally - did we mention that Israel's ambassadors to the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, France, Spain, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Denmark, Italy, Egypt and the European Union were all called in to those country's respective foreign ministries and given what one source called a "dressing down"?

Now - taking a breath - let's briefly summarize what the Palestinian Arab leadership did and said in the past few days

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