Europe’s “Human Rights” Persecution of Israel - by Daniel Krygier

The Holocaust made it impossible for Europeans to associate with antisemitism. Instead, much of post-colonial Europe embraces Jew-hatred in the name of anti-Zionism and “human rights”.

Daniel Krygier..
MiDA..
29 January '18..
Link: http://en.mida.org.il/2018/01/29/europes-human-rights-persecution-israel/

The Council of Europe sees itself as a beacon of democracy and human rights. However, when it comes to the Jewish state of Israel, it systematically sides with totalitarian and genocidal Middle Eastern forces that seek to extinguish those fundamental rights for the Jewish people.

The Council of Europe’s rejection of President Trump’s recognition of Israel’s capital Jerusalem is not merely a policy disagreement. It is a rejection of the reborn Jewish state’s fundamental right to choose its capital like any other independent nation. Jerusalem was the capital of the Jewish nation long before the emergence of European states and is today the thriving capital of modern Israel. It is not Europe’s business to meddle regarding the location of Israel’s capital and where the United States decides to move its embassy.

The Council of Europe had the audacity to state that “….Jerusalem could well become the capital of both the State of Israel and the future Palestinian State, as a result of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.”

This statement brings this key European body to Orwellian territory by creating a false symmetry between reality and fiction, between a reborn Jewish state of Israel that exists and an Arab state that never existed and still does not exist. It also ignores the fact that Jerusalem has never been the capital of any other nation than the Jewish people.

Israel’s late liberal Foreign minister Abba Eban would not have felt at home among today’s self-appointed European “liberals”:

“Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its ‘right to exist’…..There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or old, that would consider mere recognition of its ‘right to exist’ a favor, or a negotiable concession.”

This also applies to Israel’s capital. Any European diplomat visiting Israel wishing to meet its leadership, travels to Jerusalem, the seat of Israel’s government, parliament, Supreme Court and most ministries.

This key European assembly’s hypocrisy against Israel knows no boundaries.

“It also regrets the ongoing building of Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, thus undermining the feasibility of the two-State solution.”

This European neo-colonial statement reprimands the indigenous Jews for living in their ancient capital Jerusalem while unilaterally declaring “East Jerusalem” as “occupied”. “Occupied” from whom? From Jordan that illegally occupied Jerusalem’s old city from 1948 until 1967? From PLO that never controlled any part of Jerusalem and was busy “liberating” the Jewish state within the green line with numerous terror attacks from Tel Aviv to Haifa and beyond?

When rhetoric rules the roost

Caroline Glick
carolineglick.com
26 February '10

There is something pathetic about what passes as European foreign policy these days. Quite simply, more often than not, the concerted positions of the EU member nations have nothing to do with any of their national interests.

Take the EU's initial response to the killing of Hamas terror-master Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on January 19. A senior terrorist engaging in the illegal purchase of illicit arms from Iran for Hamas-controlled Gaza is killed in his hotel room. The same Dubai authorities who had no problem with hosting a wanted international terrorist worked themselves into a frenzy condemning his killing. And of course, despite the fact that any number of governments, (Egypt and Jordan come to mind), and rival terrorist organizations, (Fatah, anyone?) had ample reason to wish to see Mabhouh dead, Dubai's police chief Lt.-Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim blamed Israel.

Not only did he blame Israel, to substantiate his claims, Tamim released what he said was video footage of alleged Mossad operatives who entered Dubai with European and Australian passports.

Relying only on Tamim's allegations, EU leaders went into high dudgeon. Ignoring the nature of the operation, the basic lack of credibility of the source of information, and the interests of Europe in defeating jihadist terrorism in the Middle East and worldwide, the chanceries of Europe squawked indignantly and threatened to cut off intelligence cooperation with Israel.

(Read full article)
.

The EU's Jerusalem policy

Petra Marquardt-Bigman
The Warped Mirror/JPost
06 December 09

Last week, the international media were abuzz with reports that the European Union (EU) planned to act on a Swedish initiative that called for the formal recognition of east Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state. The endorsement was apparently expected in the wake of a meeting of EU foreign ministers scheduled for December 7-8 in Brussels, where the EU's policy on Mideast peace was among the issues on the agenda.

It is important to understand that the EU is currently trying to assert itself as a major player on the world stage. Europe has just filled two newly created leadership positions by appointing the first President of the European Council and the first High Representative for Foreign Affairs. Both positions went to "surprise" candidates who are hardly known on the European stage, and the appointments were widely criticized and even ridiculed. Indeed, it was rather fitting that one of the first media reports on the appointments concluded with some culinary revelations: "The decision was made last night over a dinner of wild mushrooms, spiced sea bass and chocolate fondant."

However, life in the service of the EU is not all about gourmet pleasures, and there has been quite a bit of concern recently because European politicians feel that they are no longer enjoying a "special relationship" with the US. A recent study on the subject warned gloomily:

An unsentimental President Obama has already lost patience with a Europe lacking coherence and purpose. In a post-American world, the United States knows it needs effective partners. If Europe cannot step up, the US will look for other privileged partners to do business with."

The EU's proposed stance on east Jerusalem may well be an exercise in muscle-flexing designed to show Obama that Europe is ready to fully back demands for a complete settlement construction freeze that would include Jerusalem. While searching for some background information on the subject, I came across a Web site called EUobserver that featured two relevant reports on its home page.

One report describes the apparently somewhat tense atmosphere during the first encounter between the EU's inexperienced new foreign policy chief and EU parliamentarians:

(Continue article)

.

Middle East Lunatics Run Asylum; West Hands Them The Keys

Barry Rubin
The Rubin Report
11 October 09

It’s bad enough that lunatics are running the asylum but to make matters worse they’re charging us rent! UN General Assembly chaired by Libya; EU chaired by Sweden; UN Human Rights committee run by Sudan. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received as a great statesman by the UN after stealing the election and repressing demonstrators. President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo and at the General Assembly. Yep that about sums it up.

So let’s see what’s happening in the Middle East today….

There have been several days of Palestinian riots in Jerusalem based on a false rumor of some Jewish radical assault on the Temple Mount when it was just a group of French tourists visiting the area. Wild rumors and lies create violence and hatred.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the radical Islamist Movement in Israel was convening under the slogan “Al Aqsa Is in Danger,” rallying thousands. One of the movement’s leader—President Barack Obama take note—said in a radio interview that it was unacceptable for “an [Israeli] Ethiopian policeman, a Negro, would ask a Muslim for his identity card” at the entrance to the Temple Mount compound.

Massive criticism and protests over this racism? Muslim groups lambast the Islamists for displaying racial prejudice? Guess not. Instead, violent demonstrations were organized by Fatah, Hamas, and Hizb al-Tahrir based on an untrue rumor.

So what did Fatah do after it helped provoke riots? Why it ran to the UN and demanded it intervene to keep Israel from escalating the situation in Jerusalem. The request was made by PA “foreign minister” Riyad al-Malki, a veteran leader of the terrorist PFLP group, though he is no longer with them..

What a wonderful metaphor. First, attack Israel; then complain that Israel is aggressive and committing war crimes. Of course, that’s what Hamas did and the world has leaped to its defense, so maybe that works.

[Which reminds me, a couple of months ago I spoke at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France. The representative of some Muslim group asked, “Why should anyone give you any more credibility [that is, the Israeli position] than to Hamas?” He was being generous. Hamas clearly has far more credibility even with the Europeans.]

Which brings us to the European Union’s endorsement of the Goldstone Commission report. LINK Note that the EU’s membership as a whole will almost certainly not support serious sanctions against Iran (even if Britain, France, and Germany do). Also note that the Swedish foreign minister, who chairs the EU, refused to condemn an article in Sweden’s largest newspaper saying Israel deliberately murdered Palestinians to steal their organs.

Incidentally, you may think the Goldstone Commission report is just being criticized by some because it condemns Israel as having committed war crimes during the war in Gaza. Actually, if one totally ignores the specific topic, it is one of the most amazingly sloppy and irresponsible international documents I’ve ever seen. It is based on the unchecked testimony of Hamas officials and Palestinians who hate Israel, plus plagiarism from various reports by NGOs that have a roughly similar position.

There was no independent investigation or verification of facts. Compared to this, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a scholarly document.

But that doesn’t mean PA and Fatah and PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas is happy. Oh, no. He has committed the dreadful sin of “moderation” in Palestinian eyes and so must repent (hence one of the reasons for his role in provoking the riots).

What did Abbas do wrong? First, he stood next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the UN because President Barack Obama asked him to do so. And second he agreed to withdraw the PA’s being the main sponsor of the Goldstone resolution at the UN to accuse Israel of war crimes.

Why does he need to do anything? He can just let the EU do the job for him.

Not that Abbas is all “bad” from the radical standpoint that dominates Palestinian thinking. After all, he refuses to negotiate with Israel unless there is a total freeze of construction on settlements, despite the Palestinians accepting this in practice for 16 years.

And this is the man and movement that Nobel Laureate Obama would have us believe is about to make peace? He can’t even do a small favor for Obama, much less make the big compromises necessary for real peace.

So how do you win popularity? Well, Hamas knows. Firing rockets and mortars at Israel, breaking the ceasefire, and using civilians as human shields have brought it big international gains. Now, Hamas, according to a Reuters report, is “enjoying a wave of popularity” because it got 20 female prisoners released in exchange for a video showing that Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit is alive.

Get that? Minor acts of moderation make you unpopular so you must repent by organizing riots and escalating extremist rhetoric. Violence and punishing your own people makes you popular.

Welcome to the Middle East!

One government that understands this is that of Turkey, which has now canceled participation in a joint U.S.-NATO-Israel-Turkey air force exercise, after participating for 15 rounds in the past. The authorities in Washington haven’t caught on yet that the Turkish government is taking the country down the Islamist path and is bringing the armed forces there to heel as well. They still think it is a very model of a moderate Muslim government.

Ironically, the exercise was known as Anatolian Eagle but there will be no Anatolians.

The United States, however, is still participating in a big joint air defense exercise with Israel, a sign that bilateral relations continue to function smoothly.

Note also that the Turkish government has imposed a $2.5 billion fine (that is not a typographical error) on the Dogan Group, the largest company backing opposition media. This is a huge danger to freedom of the press in Turkey and a dangerous sign of where that country’s government is going.

Sorry to go on so long. Blame the news, not me.
.

The Schoenau Ultimatum

Yehuda Avner

JPost

03 September 09

How does one treat terrorists? Deal with them and you're done for; don't and innocents die. Take the case of Schoenau. It is a tale of infamy that seized the assemblage of the Council of Europe in September 1973.

The Council of Europe in Strasbourg is that continent's approximation to a representative house. At the time in question, its 400-odd delegates watched with various degrees of curiosity as a stooped, aging woman with a face deeply scarred with tragic lines mounted the podium. She was prime minister Golda Meir, and she was there at the invitation of the European Council to state the case for Israel.

Generally speaking, Golda Meir preferred to speak extemporaneously, but since this was a formal occasion, protocol required she deliver a pre-prepared address. I, her in-house speechwriter, drafted one. In its preparation I had torn up a dozen or more versions, leaving tooth marks on my pen as I wrote and rewrote page after page, scribbling deranged doodles while mentally struggling for concise, rhythmic, salvationary nouns and alliterative descriptions in my effort to give her words a defining oratory.

Finally, a coherent theme emerged and a speech surfaced. It thanked the council and individual European parliaments for raising their voices in support of Soviet Jewry's right to freely emigrate to Israel (this was at the height of the worldwide "Let My People Go" campaign), delved into the intricacies of the Middle East conflict, pleaded for "the European Council's help to enable the Middle East to emulate the model of peaceful coexistence that the council itself had established," and perorated with a quote from the great European statesman Jean Monnet, that "peace depends not only on treaties and promises. It depends essentially upon the creation of conditions which, if they do not change the nature of men, at least guide their behavior towards each other in a peaceful direction."

To my consternation Golda never enunciated a single one of these words. Instead, she scanned the assembly from end to end, jaw jutting, her expression defiant, and after combing back her hair with the fingers of both hands, brandished the written speech, and in a caustic tone said, "I have here my prepared address, a copy of which I believe you have before you. But I have decided at the last minute not to place between you and me the paper on which my speech is written. Instead, you will forgive me if I break with protocol and speak in an impromptu fashion. I say this in light of what has occurred in Austria during the last few days."

CLEARLY, THE woman had decided it was idiotic to read her formal address after the devastating news which had reached her just before leaving Israel for Strasbourg: A train carrying Jews from communist Russia en route to Israel via Vienna was hijacked by two Arab terrorists at a railway crossing on the Austrian frontier. Seven Jews were taken hostage, among them a 73-year-old man, an ailing woman and a three-year-old child. The terrorists issued an ultimatum that unless the Austrian government instantly closed down Schoenau, the Jewish Agency's layover near Vienna where the émigrés were processed before being flown on to Israel, not only would the hostages be killed, but Austria itself would become the target of violent retaliation.

The Austrian cabinet hastily met and, led by chancellor Bruno Kreisky, capitulated. Kreisky announced that Schoenau would be closed forthwith, and the terrorists were hustled to the airport for safe passage to Libya.

The entire Arab world could hardly contain its glee, and a fuming Golda Meir instructed her aides to arrange for an early flight from Strasbourg to Vienna where she intended to confront her fellow prime minister, her fellow socialist and her fellow Jew, Bruno Kreisky, herself.

To the European Council she said, "Since the Arab terrorists have failed in their ghastly efforts to wreak havoc in Israel, they have of late taken their atrocities against Israeli and Jewish targets into Europe, aided and abetted by Arab governments."

This remark caused a fidgety buzz to drone around the packed chamber, and it seemed to deepen when she spoke bitterly about the 11 Israeli athletes kidnapped and murdered at the Munich Olympics the summer before, an outrage compounded by the German government's subsequent release of the surviving killers in return for the freeing of a hijacked Lufthansa plane and its passengers.

"Oh yes, I fully understand your feelings," said Golda cynically, arms folded as tight as a drawbridge. "I fully understand the feelings of a European prime minister saying, 'For God's sake, leave us out of this! Fight your own wars on your own turf. What do your enmities have to do with us? Leave us be!' And I can even understand" - this in a voice that had gone grimmer than ever - "why some governments might even decide that the only way to rid themselves of this insidious threat is to declare their countries out of bounds, if not to Jews generally then certainly to Israeli Jews, or Jews en route to Israel. It seems to me this is the moral choice which every European government has to make these days."

And then, chopping the air with balled fists, her face as granite as her eyes, she thundered, "European governments have no alternative but to decide what they are going to do. To every one which upholds the rule of law I suggest there is but only one answer - no deals with terrorists, no truck with terrorism. Any government which strikes a deal with these killers does so at its own peril. What happened in Vienna is that a democratic government, a European government, came to an agreement with terrorists. In so doing it has brought shame upon itself. In so doing it has breached a basic principle of the rule of law, the basic principle of the freedom of the movement of peoples - or should I just say the basic freedom of the movement of Jews fleeing Russia? Oh, what a victory for terrorism this is!"

THE ENSUING applause told Golda Meir that she had gotten her message across to a goodly portion of the European Council, so off she flew to Vienna.
(Continue)
.