Wednesday, 20 May 2015 08:32
By: Jewish Voice Staff
As Israel continues to find herself
under unyielding existential siege by her immediate Arab neighbors and
the ever present threat to annihilate the Jewish state by Iran gains
traction with each passing day, it now appears that influential
international organizations have escalated their concerted efforts to
isolate Israel in the world community.
According to a recent report in the
Guardian of London, a cadre of high profile former European political
leaders and diplomats have issued demands that the European Union (EU)
urgently reassess its policy on announcing its formal recognition of a
Palestinian state and have insisted that Israel be held accountable for
its “actions” in the so-called occupied territories.
The Guardian reported that the
signatories on the letter included Hubert Védrine and Roland Dumas,
former foreign ministers of France, Andreas van Agt, former prime
minister of the Netherlands, John Bruton, a former prime minister of
Ireland, Michel Rocard, former prime minister of France, Javier Solana,
former NATO secretary general and Sir Jeremy Greenstock, former UK
ambassador to the UN. The group is known as the European Eminent Persons
Group.
The leaders charge that the financial
and political aid that the EU has given to the troubled region has only
exacerbated the “preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank
and imprisonment of Gaza”.
Reports indicate that the timing of the
letter by the European leaders comes on the heels of the recent
electoral victory of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his
success in cobbling together a right-wing coalition.
These leaders and others in senior
European political circles have often criticized Netanyahu for what they
perceive as his efforts to intentionally place obstacles in the path of
US initiated peace negotiations as well as stalling direct talks with
the Palestinian Authority.
The letter clearly expresses increased
frustration over the moribund peace process and continued illegal
Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, according to the Guardian
report.
In a scathing critique of EU policy, the
letter says: “Europe has yet to find an effective way of holding Israel
to account for the way it maintains the occupation. It is time now to
demonstrate to both parties how seriously European public opinion takes
contraventions of international law, the perpetration of atrocities and
the denial of established rights.”
The issue of recognition of a
Palestinian state is expected to be presented before the UN security
council in the coming months, according to the Guradian report. It will
likely be in the shape of a new draft resolution currently being
examined by France. The leaders say::“If this means recognition of a
Palestine government-in-waiting for the territories within the pre-1967
borders, or the setting of a deadline for the negotiation of a two-state
solution, the EU should be united in support.”
Moreover, the leaders have asked the EU
to make their relations with Palestinians and Israelis conditional on
the “parties attitude to progress towards a two-state solution”.
In a recent interview with the
London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, President Obama said that
he had not given up hope for a two-state solution but tensions in the
region and “serious questions about overall commitment” have made
progress difficult, according to the Guardian report.
“It’s no secret that we now have a very
difficult path forward,” Obama said in the interview. “We look to the
new Israeli government and the Palestinians to demonstrate - through
policies and actions - a genuine commitment to a two-state solution.”
The European leaders’ letter follows an
April report sent to the EU foreign policy chief about a potential
boycott of products manufactured in the disputed territories. The report
called for the “correct labelling of settlement products.”
As such, the letter asked for “tougher
measures to contain [Israeli] settlement expansion and steps to
operationalize the EU’s policy of non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty
beyond the 1967 borders across the full range of EU-Israeli relations”.
Condemning what they perceive as
Netanyahu’s intransigence as it pertains to implementing practical steps
to furthering the peace process, the letter stated their belief that
the Israeli Prime Minister has “little intention of negotiating
seriously for a two-state solution within the term of this incoming
Israeli government.” They also came down hard on the role of the Obama
administration by writing: “We also have low confidence that the US
government will be in a position to take a lead on fresh negotiations
with the vigor and the impartiality that a two-state outcome demands.”
On the flip side of this ongoing
debacle, while the EU has played a significant role in pressuring
successive Israeli governments regarding peace negotiations with the
Palestinians, they have consistently funded NGOs that work to
delegitimize Israel through campaigns of Boycotts, Divestments, and
Sanctions (BDS).
According to acclaimed author Joseph
Puder, in an article appearing on the Front Page Mag web site, he
writes: An “industry of lies” manufactured by the Palestinians have been
accepted by the EU’s media and academia, who have turned them into
accepted “truths” and disseminated them widely among those in the
European “street.” BDS is quite simply a form of political warfare that
exploits the language of human rights and international law to promote
the destruction of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.”
He adds that, “The EU’s unquestionable
support of radical Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and
of the Palestinian Authority (PA) encourages Palestinian refusal to
arrive at a reasonable and peaceful settlement with Israel. “
FIFA and the Proposed Suspension of Israel
In other related matters, efforts are
underway in the realm of professional sports to undercut Israeli
influence in the lucrative world of international football or soccer.
Recently, the Palestinian Football Association had called for Israel’s
suspension from FIFA, (Federation Internationale de Football
Association) which is world soccer’s governing body.
On Tuesday, May 20, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet FIFA President Sepp
Blatter in Jerusalem to see if measures can be taken to convince the
Palestinians to withdraw their proposal for the suspension of Israel,
which is on the agenda in FIFA's annual Congress in Zurich on May 29.
According to a Jerusalem Post report,
Blatter is traveling to the region in the hope of finding a diplomatic
solution to the campaign to isolate Israel.
The report indicated that the chances of
a scenario unfolding in which Israel would be jettisoned from
participation in FIFA are slim to none; nonetheless, Israel is taking
the Palestinian bid quite seriously.
In the last few weeks Israel has lobbied
many of the 209 countries of FIFA against the proposal. It takes a 75
percent majority – or 157 countries that would have to vote to support
the move.
Israel argues that the proposal would
adversely politicize the sport, and assert that the Palestinians are
only using this international platform to further their political agenda
of internationally ostracizing Israel.
Reports have noted that restrictions
have been placed on some Palestinian football players because of their
involvement in terrorist organizations.
The JPost reported that Israel Football
Association chairman Ofer Eini and CEO Rotem Kemer will participate in
Netanyahu's meeting with Blatter. They went to Zurich last week to
discuss the matter with FIFA chiefs at the organization's headquarters.
Is Abbas an “Angel of Peace?”
During a meeting on Saturday, May 16, at
the Vatican, widespread reports emanating from the AFP and AP news
services indicated that Pope Francis I called Palestininan Authority
(PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas an “Angel of Peace.”
INN reported that the purported comments
were received as something of a coup by PA officials and their
supporters - but it appears they were the result of a mistranslation.
Francis's original remarks appeared in
the Italian-language newspaper La Stampa, which the English-language
outlets in question translated as the pontiff calling Abbas outright an
"angel of peace."
But doubts were first cast on the
accuracy of the translation by the Israellycool blog, which pointed out
that the Italian was written in the exhortative (using the word "sia").
Several Italian-language experts have
confirmed that to Arutz Sheva, saying that Francis actually told Abbas
that he "may" or "could" be an "angel of peace," in an attempt to
persuade him to return to peace talks with Israel.
As leader of the Catholic world, the
Pope's stance on the Arab-Israeli conflict is closely scrutinized,
leading to several high-profile controversies.
Just last week Pope Francis declared he
would recognize "Palestine," sparking an uproar - just days after he
declared that the Vatican would canonize "Palestinian saints."
In May 2014, while on an official visit
to Israel, the Pope called the Palestinian Authority (PA) the "state of
Palestine," and made an unexpected stop at the security barrier between
Jerusalem and Bethlehem in Judea to pray at a section with "Pope we need
to see someone to speak about justice. Bethlehem look (sic) like Warsaw
ghetto. Free Palestine" spray-painted on it.
Abbas was in Rome at the invitation of
the Pope for the canonization Sunday of two 19th-century nuns from what
was then Ottoman-ruled Palestine. The new saints, Mariam Bawardy and
Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, are the first from the region to be canonized
since the early days of Christianity.
Joining Abbas were over 2000 Palestinians who waved flags in Vatican square during the ceremony.
Church officials have said that the
canonization of the new saints is a sign of hope and encouragement for
Christians in the Middle East at a time when violent persecution from
Islamic extremists has driven many Christians from the region of
Christ's birth, according to published reports.
In a statement Saturday, Abbas praised
the two new saints as inspirational models for today's Palestinians and
urged Christians like them to remain in the region.
"We call on Palestinian Christians to
stay with us and enjoy the rights of full and equal citizenship, and
bear with us the difficulties of life until we achieve liberty,
sovereignty and human dignity," he said.
Giulio Meotti, a Vatican scholar and
expert on the history of anti-Semitism in the Catholic Church, recently
offered quite a different analysis of the Church’s position on Israel.
He called the Pope’s recognition of a Palestinian state. The Pope’s
decision he said is “nothing new.” He added that, “Despite the fact
that there are many Catholics around the world who share a pro-Israel
attitude, the Catholic Church has always been at war with the Jewish
State and did everything in its power to prevent its establishment and
then to derail it.”
A
controversy is currently swirling around a widely reported remark made
by Pope Francis I to Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas when they met at
the Vatican on Saturday. He allegedly referred to the terrorist leader
as an “angel of peace” after a canonization ceremony of two 18th century
nuns from Ottoman controlled Palestine. (Photo Credit:
Conservativebyte.com)
In
a strongly worded letter to Federica Mogherini (pictured above) the
EU’s foreign policy chief, the group of former European leaders
expressed their serious misgivings concerning the role that the US can
play in leading substantive negotiations between Israelis and
Palestinians in terms of a two-state solution.
Pilgrims
wave Palestinian flags before a holy mass at St. Peters Square in Rome
as the Pope canonized two 18th century nuns from the Ottoman controlled
known as Palestine
