Anyone surprised that clueless Europeans muddle the Middle East again? - by Ken Cohen

If America and Israel have the energy and creativity to adapt the Europeans’ deluded Middle East blueprints to today’s reality, a simple “thank you” from the Europeans would be nice. In the meantime, the European Union should turn inward to confront its own problems—which, by the way, include rampant anti-Semitism and related anti-Zionist passions across the continent. Europe has little concern for Israel’s security, and is advancing tired positions on the Middle East and peace that are long past their sell-by date.

Ken Cohen..
FLAME/JNS.org..
10 February '20..

The world would be much better off if the Europeans focused on the myriad problems on their own continent. Instead, the national and trans-national institutions of Europe insist on inserting themselves gratuitously into distant problems of which they have little understanding and zero political standing.

Exhibit A: The present map of Middle East, reflecting dysfunction within nearly all its borders, is largely the work of the nations that comprise today’s European Union (E.U.). France in particular, along with its World War I ally Great Britain, drew the boundary lines of the Middle East, creating new states and states-to-be under the aegis of the post-war League of Nations.

All evidence is that they made a hash of it, and the turbulence that has wracked the Middle East for decades is attributable to European ham-handedness and cultural ignorance in creating its boundaries and ethnic compositions.

Sadly—but unsurprisingly—the Europeans are still at it, most recently opposing central elements of President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. Rather than help, the E.U.’s posture is more likely to exacerbate one of the key messes it has sustained year after year.

With the E.U. still in disbelief over the exit of the United Kingdom, E.U. foreign policy chief Josep Borrell nevertheless found the time to critique the Trump plan, stating that “the U.S. initiative departs from internationally agreed parameters.” He singled out the need to address the unresolved final-status issues, like agreements on borders, the status of Jerusalem, and the alleged Palestinian right of return.

In other words, Borrell basically demands that the catastrophic policies of past decades be perpetuated. He may not have noted this, but every prior attempt to address these “final-status issues” has resulted in abject failure—often accompanied by massive bloodletting, as in the case of the second intifada at the beginning of this century.

(Continue to Full Column)

Ken Cohen is editor of Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME), which publishes educational messages to correct lies and misperceptions about Israel and its relationship to the United States.

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