This posting has these items:
1) WAND: Best hard choice for Palestine, Israel, wider world, former consul-general recommends the letter;
2) Guardian: Former European leaders call for change in EU policy on Israel;
3) Guardian: The EEPG letter;
4) Telegraph: Elder statesmen urge EU to get tough with Israel on two-state solution;
5) JPost: ‘EU must reassess Mideast policy, hold Israel to account for settlements’.
Eminent Person Javier Solana, Formerly Secretary General of NATO (1995–1999), EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary General of the Council of the European Union and Secretary-General of the Western European Union
Best hard choice for Palestine, Israel, wider world
Comment from former British consul-general in Jerusalem, Vincent Fean
Circulated by WAND, May 14, 2015
This is a powerful, accurate analysis and policy prescription by a set of people who know what it is to make hard choices – and who are motivated by what is best for Israel, Palestine, Europe and the wider world. There is real urgency.
Europe’s values and interests converge: European states and the EU should act fast and decisively to preserve the aim of Israel and Palestine living side by side as independent, sovereign states on the basis of pre 1967 War borders. This is the only way equitably to guarantee the future security and prosperity of both peoples.There are things that Europe can and should do that the USA cannot do; and things that European states can do that the EU cannot. Bilateral recognition of the state of Palestine (NB not of any government, actual or in waiting – not of any Palestinian political faction) is a sovereign decision by individual states. It is the right decision – emulating Sweden – to take in 2015, led by France and the UK as the European permanent members of the UN Security Council. Many European states will follow this lead.
Sir Martin Fean being hustled out of Bir Zeit university in March 2013, shortly before he retired as British Consul General. The students often do not welcome outside visitors. Photo by Reuters.
Recognition of Palestine now alongside earlier permanent recognition of Israel does much to equate the status of the two conflicting parties under international law. It restores Europe’s balance, without detriment to the Israel we continue to recognise. It strengthens the argument for non violence on the Palestinian side, and brings home to Israelis the truth that their country will lose altitude internationally as long as the Occupation continues.
The focus on UN Security Council action is right. The crisis requires a formal restatement of the will of the international community to guarantee the two state outcome, with consequences for eg rockets from Gaza, the continuation of the blockade of Gaza, and settlement activity.
The Israel/Palestine conflict, with decades of perceived – and real – double standards in respect of enforcing international humanitarian law, is the best recruiting sergeant for extremism. By upholding that law without fear or favour, we deny the extremists their excuse for terrorist criminality, and set things straight.
Former European leaders call for change in EU policy on Israel
Europe must hold Israel to account for the way it maintains the occupation, says letter from former prime ministers and diplomats
By Peter Beaumont in Jerusalem, The Guardian
May 13, 2015
A high-profile group of former European political leaders and diplomats has called for the urgent reassessment of EU policy on the question of a Palestinian state and has insisted Israel must be held to account for its actions in the occupied territories.
In a hard-hitting letter to the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, the group – which includes former prime ministers, foreign ministers and ambassadors– also expresses serious doubts about the ability of the US to lead substantive negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.
It charges that EU political and financial aid has achieved nothing but the “preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and imprisonment of Gaza”.
The group, known as the European Eminent Persons Group, argues that the re-election of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the head of a narrow rightwing coalition has made the issue even more pressing.
The signatories include 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 letter comes at a time of increasingly heated debate in senior European policy circles amid heightened frustration over the moribund peace process and continued illegal Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a damning assessment of EU policy, which the authors say has “hidden” behind US leadership in an “unedifying” manner, 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.”
Predicting that the Palestinian issue is likely to come before the UN security council again in the coming months in the shape of a new draft resolution currently being examined by France, they 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.”
They also call for the EU to reassess relations with Palestinians and Israelis, making relations conditional on the “parties attitude to progress towards a two-state solution”.
The letter came as the US president, Barack Obama, told the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat 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.
“It’s no secret that we now have a very difficult path forward,” he said in an 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 former leaders’ letter follows the report to Mogherini sent by 16 EU foreign ministers on 13 April 2015 that calls for the EU-wide introduction of guidelines for correct labelling of settlement products. Supporting this initiative, the authors of the letter go further, calling for “tougher measures to contain [Israeli] settlement expansion and steps to operationalise the EU’s policy of non-recognition of Israeli sovereignty beyond the 1967 borders across the full range of EU-Israeli relations”.
Linking the call explicitly to the re-election of Netanyahu, the letter reads:
The re-election of Binyamin Netanyahu as Israeli prime minister and the construction of a new Israeli coalition government now requires urgent action by the EU to construct a coherent and effective policy on the question of Palestine.
Mr Netanyahu expressed various views on Palestine in and around the recent election campaign, most of them cold to the concept of an independent Palestinian state. We are convinced in our own minds that he has little intention of negotiating seriously for a two-state solution within the term of this incoming Israeli government. We also have low confidence that the US government will be in a position to take a lead on fresh negotiations with the vigour and the impartiality that a two-state outcome demands.
Yet the situation on the ground grows steadily more dangerous. It has received less priority attention recently than certain other parts of a very disturbed region, but conditions in the occupied territories remain high on the list of the world’s worst crises in terms not just of political flammability, but also of the denial of international justice, human rights and humanitarian standards.
Israel’s long-term security, which we value highly, is severely compromised by the current trend of events, as its international reputation. The continued illegal expansion of settlements in area and population will only reinforce this trend.
We maintain our view that the current financial and political assistance given by Europe and America to the Palestinian Authority achieves little more than the preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and imprisonment of Gaza. The Palestinian Authority’s tenuous grip on the West Bank population’s allegiance has required strong security and other dependence on Israel, funded primarily by Europe and the US. Gaza has shamefully been left to one side.
Standards of living and human rights in both territories have sunk shockingly low. It is no longer possible for the EU to allow these conditions to continue without grave risk to its international reputation and to its long-term interest in the stability of its neighbourhood.
Hiding behind American leadership on the politics of the dispute is unedifying and unproductive. The apparently more urgent crises in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen are little excuse either, when the scope to stand up for principled action on Israel-Palestine, along lines long established by past UN decisions, is better defined than in those other cases. We seem to forget that the context in Palestine is one of 47 years of military occupation, characterised by grave violations of international law.
Elder statesmen urge EU to get tough with Israel on two-state solution
Retired political heavyweights write to European Union chief demanding action against Benjamin Netanyahu for backing away from recognising Palestinian statehood
By Robert Tait, Jerusalem, Daily Telegraph
May 13, 2015
The group, known as the European Eminent Persons’ Group on Middle East issues, include Sir Jeremy Greenstock, a former British ambassador to the United Nations, John Bruton, former Irish prime minister, and Javier Solana, the EU’s former foreign policy supremo.
Calling for “urgent action” by the EU, the letter – signed by 19 prominent former diplomats – takes Mr Netanyahu to task for reversing his previous commitment to recognising Palestinian statehood during Israel’s recent election campaign.
“We are convinced in our own minds that he has little intention of negotiating seriously for a two-state solution within the term of this incoming Israeli government,” it says.
“We also have low confidence that the US government will be in a position to take a lead on fresh negotiations with the vigour and the impartiality that a two-state outcome demands.Yet the situation on the ground grows steadily more dangerous.”
The diplomats criticise European government for “hiding behind American leadership on the politics of the conflict”.
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, a co-chairman of the group, said a new policy had to reflect European interests. “We are saying that a decisive European approach, even if radical in the first instance, needs to be formed to express the degree of EU interest there is in not allowing this issue to explode,” he said.
The letter – which has also been sent to John Kerry, the US secretary of state – is expected to be on the agenda when the foreign ministers of the 28 EU states meet this month.
A separate letter last month signed by 16 foreign ministers, including Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, urged Ms Mogherini to implement a 2013 European directive that would require the labelling of all imported products from Israeli West Bank settlements.
Days after Mr Netanyahu struck deals with four smaller parties to form a narrow Right-wing coalition, a document presented on Wednesday to Israel’s parliament, detailing his government’s guidelines, made no mention of the two-state solution. It also made no reference to establishing a Palestinian state, merely vowing that the government would “advance the diplomatic process and will strive for a peace agreement with the Palestinians”.
The call for a more assertive European approach came as President Barack Obama signalled that the US was re-assessing its role in trying to resolve the conflict following successive failures.
“It’s no secret that we now have a very difficult path forward. As a result, the United States is taking a hard look at our approach to the conflict,” he told Asharq al-Awsat, a London-based Arabic language newspaper.
A heavyweight group of retired statesmen have called for a radical shake-up in European policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent re-election as Israel’s prime minister.
In a letter to Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, and European foreign ministers, the statesmen bluntly say Mr Netanyahu is not serious about negotiating a peace deal based on a two-state solution, defined as Israel alongside an independent Palestine.
They are also critical of past American diplomatic efforts at resolving the conflict, saying they have effectively been biased towards Israel by failing to recognise the vast inequality in status between the two sides and the degree of injustice endured by the Palestinians.
‘EU must reassess Mideast policy, hold Israel to account for settlements’European Eminent Persons Group, which is comprised of top-level former diplomats, send critical letter to EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
By JPost staff
May 13, 2015
European diplomats and heads of state say that US policy with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has failed and that a new EU led approach is needed.
According to a Wednesday report in the British newspaper The Guardian, the European Eminent Persons Group sent a letter to Brussels’ top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, demanding a “reassessment” that supports among other things a UN Security Council resolution that is expected to call for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2017.
The letter is also critical of current EU policy, specifically its use of financial assistance. It urges that tougher steps be taken to hold Israel accountable for West Bank settlement building, such as product labeling.
“We maintain our view that the current financial and political assistance given by Europe and America to the Palestinian Authority achieves little more than the preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and imprisonment of Gaza,” the letter reads.
“The Palestinian Authority’s tenuous grip on the West Bank population’s allegiance has required strong security and other dependence on Israel, funded primarily by Europe and the US. Gaza has shamefully been left to one side.”
The letter urges the European Union to pursue a tougher line on Israel in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election and the anticipated formation of his new rightist coalition.
Among the signatories of the letter are Hubert Védrine and Roland Dumas, who served as foreign ministers of France; the former Dutch premier Andreas van Agt; John Bruton, a former prime minister of Ireland; Michel Rocard, former prime minister of France; Javier Solana, former secretary-general of NATO; and Sir Jeremy Greenstock, former UK ambassador to the UN.
The former officials say that Europe must end its policy of yielding to American leadership on the peace process, which as produced “virtually nothing” in addressing Palestinian grievances.
“The EU and its member states have been held back from a more proactive stance on Israel- Palestine by three major considerations: their lack of consensus on the issue, their focus on newer and apparently more urgent Middle East crises, and their reluctance to get out in front of the United States in an area where Washington has always insisted on prime ownership,” the letter reads.
“These three drawbacks now need to be addressed directly. The absence of any credible negotiation process, combined with the desperate condition of the occupied territories, the eroding international legitimacy of the Israeli approach and the instability of the wider region, requires a fresh examination of EU policy.”
“The fact that American efforts over more than two decades have achieved virtually nothing by way of justice for the Palestinians or long-term security for Israel means that European interests have also suffered,” the letter reads. “This needs to be recognized in a new formulation of EU policy that puts those interests first and that reflects the expectation of European public opinion increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo. The Arab Peace Initiative, proposed in 2002 but largely ignored since then, could form one pillar of a new EU approach.”
According to The Guardian, European officials are deeply divided over what steps to take in order to coax Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, which is all the more pressing given the Israeli government’s continued policy of settlement expansion in the West Bank.
“Europe has yet to find an effective way of holding Israel to account for the way it maintains the occupation,” the letter reads. “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.”
Brussels is being urged to support an upcoming French draft resolution in the UN Security Council calling for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2017.
“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,” the letter reads.
The former dignitaries are also advocating 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.”
The issue has taken on a greater sense of urgency, they say, due to Netanyahu’s comments during the election campaign and the expected swearing-in of a coalition whose members have in the past expressed hostility to the idea of Palestinian statehood.
“The re-election of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israeli prime minister and the construction of a new Israeli coalition government now requires urgent action by the EU to construct a coherent and effective policy on the question of Palestine,” the letter reads.
“Mr. Netanyahu expressed various views on Palestine in and around the recent election campaign, most of them cold to the concept of an independent Palestinian state. We are convinced in our own minds that he has little intention of negotiating seriously for a two-state solution within the term of this incoming Israeli government. We also have low confidence that the US government will be in a position to take a lead on fresh negotiations with the vigour and the impartiality that a two-state outcome demands.”
