De Israelische Terreur 672

Ik wil de eerste komende tien jaar geen enkele Europese intellectueel meer horen over de westerse beschaving en al dat andere borstgeroffel. De rest van de wereld weet nu hoe hypocriet de Europeanen zijn. De Chinezen lachen zich rot, wanneer we volgende keer weer over een of andere democratische Chinees komen zeuren. 1 van de 1,3 miljard wel te verstaan. En het feit dat de EU niet gedwongen wordt door de eigen burgers om zich aan hun verdragen te houden is helemaal opmerkelijk. Zo was het in de jaren dertig ook. Vooruitgang, dat is een woord voor mensen met een verwrongen strot, lui als Bolkestein.

'Thousand deaths do not put off EU David Cronin, The Electronic Intifada, 15 January 2009

BRUSSELS (IPS) - Senior European Union figures have signaled that they could push ahead with plans to strengthen formal ties with Israel, even though more than 1,000 have now been killed by the bombardment of Gaza.Two conflicting statements about EU-Israeli relations were delivered 14 January, as the number of Palestinians, about one-third of them children, killed in Gaza continued to climb. Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, the European Commission's envoy in Jerusalem, claimed that a proposed "upgrading" in relations with Israel cannot "proceed business as usual." Yet his statement was soon contradicted by Karel Schwarzenberg, foreign minister of the Czech Republic, which holds the EU's rotating presidency. Schwarzenberg noted that EU governments agreed in June last year to intensify efforts to build a stronger alliance with Israel. This decision could only be revised by those governments, he said, adding: "It can't be changed at the word of a very respected representative of the European Union in Jerusalem." The June decision paves the way for Israel to be offered a "privileged partnership" with the Union, allowing it to become integrated into the single market on which the EU has been based, and to take part in a wide variety of other programs. Schwarzenberg, who described himself as a "lifelong friend of Israel," though "not too happy with what it's doing at the moment," was speaking to members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Many MEPs demanded a robust response from the EU to the carnage in Gaza. Chris Davies, a British Liberal who visited the war zone last weekend, said that the Israeli army "has turned Gaza into hell" with its relentless attacks using US-made F-16 jets, or "21st century killing machines" as he described them. "We have made allowances for Israel we have not made for any other country," he said. "On no occasion has the European Union ever backed up its criticism of the treatment of the Palestinians with any kind of action." Such inaction has "given the green light to Israel" for attacks. "We don't plan to condemn Israel," he added. "We plan to reward it." Israel's relations, both economic and diplomatic, with the EU are based on an association agreement that entered into force in 2000. Article 2 of that agreement commits both sides to respecting fundamental human rights. Before the offensive against Gaza began in late December voluminous evidence had been compiled by many organizations of human rights abuses by Israeli forces in the occupied territories and in the conduct of its 2006 war in Lebanon. Still, the EU has never invoked Article 2 to impose trade or other sanctions on Israel.'

Lees verder: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10190.shtml