A New Idea from the European Union
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Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton help farmers in harvesting olives in the village of Ras Karkar near Ramallah, October 25, 2012.
Photo Credit: Issam Rimawi/FLASH90.
What can I say but “thank you, EU”?
First, for again proving its malicious bias.
Second, for giving Israel the idea and, better, the rationale, to come down harder on the internationalists that block our roads, etc.
That’s from reading this:
The European Union is recommending a blacklist of “known violent settlers” who will be blocked from entering EU member states, a Western diplomat told Haaretz…[after] the consuls general of the EU countries in East Jerusalem and Ramallah wrote a report dealing with settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, especially the incidents the settlers refer to as “price tag” revenge attacks.The report recommended that EU headquarters in Brussels draw up a blacklist of settlers who would be forbidden entry into the 27 EU states.…This document, which was obtained by Haaretz, says most of the violent incidents perpetrated by settlers “appear to be part of a pattern of coercion aimed at forcing Palestinian communities in Area C to leave, with a view to expanding settlements or outposts.” The document also states that the “political strength of the settler movement has grown” and “the Israeli authorities have generally not taken firm action against outposts [that are] also illegal under Israeli law.” Given that, it states, a “culture of impunity is which the violence continues” has developed.
…The United Nations “considers settler violence as the biggest security threat to its personnel in the West Bank,” the document states.
And there’s this:-
Several of the committee experts visited the West Bank and Israel last week. A Foreign Ministry source said the visit “was totally unbalanced. Unfortunately, this is typical of some of the European clerical staff.”
According to the source, the European diplomats devoted most of their time to visiting the Palestinian Authority areas, and made several tours of the region accompanied solely by Palestinian officials. The Foreign Ministry was infuriated when told of the document’s contents, with officials saying that Israel had had no inkling that EU institutions were preparing any such blacklist. “It’s hard to respond to a paper we haven’t seen,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. “As for the inflammatory proposal to refuse to admit what they call ‘known violent settlers’ because Israel hasn’t put them on trial, there’s an internal contradiction there. How will a person be defined as a ‘violent settler’ if he hasn’t been convicted? And if he’s been convicted, then Israel has brought him to justice. It seems as if in their eagerness to suggest tough measures, these esteemed experts neglected simple logic.”
Of course, if the EU reps would spend more time with people in the communities of Yesha, acting just a bit more objectively, maybe they would learn something.
Visit My Right Word.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Yisrael Medad resides in Shiloh and is foreign media spokesperson for the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities
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One Response to “A New Idea from the European Union”
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Seems contradictory to call the Jordanian (true ethnic origin of all Palestinians) invaders and occupiers the victims…
It does not help Israel or the Israeli settlers in Judea and Samaria to have many incidents of violence unpunished.
Many defend such violence based on the idea that it is only done in response to Arab acts of violence, or that the religious laws allow it.
Neither of these are true.
While Israel should defy the West and build more in area E1, it cannot seem to allow any price tag events.