Bibi says MEPs resemble Nazis in resolution on peace process
This posting has 5 items:
1) The Parliament magazine: European Parliament pushes for renewed EU peace efforts in Middle East;
2) Ynet: Israel has some true friends in Europe says Bastiaan Belder, Dutch Conservative MEP;
3) EU: The joint draft resolution, link to the resolution before amendments;
4) Times of Israel: PM: EU vote to label Israel settlement products echoes Nazi era;
5) Europarl: European Parliament resolution on the EU’s role in the Middle East peace process;
Newly appointed EU special representative for the MEPP Fernando Gentilini, pictured here in Pristina, Kosovo on May 12, 2011. Photo by Armend Nimani / AFP
European Parliament pushes for renewed EU peace efforts in Middle East
MEPs have approved a resolution setting a roadmap for Mogherini in Israel-Palestine peace talks.
By Julie Levy-Abegnoli, The Parliament magazine
September 10, 2015
MEPs have backed a resolution calling for the EU to renew peace efforts in the Middle East. The text was passed by 525 votes to 70.
It urges EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini and newly appointed EU special representative for the Middle East peace process [MEPP] Fernando Gentilini to make better use of member states’ political and institutional expertise in order to achieve lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group vice-chair Victor Boştinaru said, “no EU funding can be used to directly or indirectly contribute to Israeli settlement construction, which is illegal under international law, or to Israeli activities violating international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestine Territory, while no EU funding to Palestinians can be directly or indirectly diverted to terrorist organisations or activities.
“Arab citizens of Israel have huge potential to play an important role in the peace process, with the joint Arab list as an important actor in the Knesset.
“The growing violence in the whole region generates new security challenges for Israel and further increase the suffering of Palestinians. It also creates shared interests between the Arab states and Israel.”
“The nuclear deal with Iran offers unique momentum for the peace process, which should not be missed. Any lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved in a regional context, with the involvement of all relevant regional stakeholders.”
Victor Bostinaru, Romanian MEP, Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe MEP Hilde Vautmans commented that, “this resolution sets a roadmap to be followed by Mogherini in the coming months. The deteriorating situation in the Middle East and the rise of Daesh require the EU to act quickly. The nuclear deal with Iran shows that the EU is instrumental in finding long-lasting solutions.”
Martina Anderson MEP, represents N. Ireland for Sinn Fein.
Over in Parliament’s European United Left/Green United Left (GUE/NGL) group, reactions were mixed, with chair of Parliament’s delegation with Palestine Martina Anderson explaining that the group “wanted a stronger-worded resolution. For example, we wanted to demand an end to the occupation of Palestine and the release of political prisoners.”
“However, one thing on which I think we are all agreed is that the EU should be a dominant political player in the Middle East peace process and advance meaningful initiatives for a comprehensive solution. We also believe Palestine should be placed under international protection.”
“We were informed last week that a peace process is virtually off Israel’s foreign policy agenda. This is unacceptable and we must challenge it”, she added.
Former athlete and Athens MP Sofia Sakarova, now a Greek MEP from Syriza.
Anderson’s Greek colleague Sofia Sakorafa noted that, “five million Palestinians are in refugee camps and there is an apartheid regime in place. Our role should be to make the state of Israel accept the decisions of international organisations. As long as we do not hold Israel accountable, all our actions focused on this area will be a waste of time.”
Greens/European Free Alliance MEP Karima Delli underlined that, “European public opinion is starting to realise that the EU not only has a dominant role but, above all, a responsibility to end this conflict and enable the creation of two states.”
Greens foreign policy spokesperson Tamas Meszerics added, “the resolution makes a direct call to EU foreign policy high representative Morgherini to act and gives her a broad mandate to push for a peace agreement that guarantees the peace and security of both sides.”
“The clear call for an end to the Gaza blockade, which is causing serious suffering to the people stuck in Gaza, must also be pursued.”
Israel has some true friends in Europe
As the BDS movement grows, there are people working hard to combat antisemitism and anti-Israelism within the European Union.
By Bastiaan Belder, Op-ed, Ynet
September 30, 2015
The start of a new year is an excellent time for reflection. When looking at the past year, I can’t help but notice that the struggle for Israel’s security in Europe remains. One needs to keep reacting to efforts that seek to undermine Israel’s legitimacy in Europe and it’s [sic] security in the Middle East.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is growing in Europe. This BDS movement may be strong but it’s not powerful. Thankfully, there are true friends of Israel inside Europe and the European institutions. They work hard to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism within the European Union. They did it again when faced with the strong negative draft joint motion for resolution on the EU’s role in the Middle East peace process that was adopted in the European Parliament last week.
In a very short timeframe, they had to reflect and think of strategies to tone down the language proposed by the Socialist and Democrats Party. The proposed resolution contained so much negative language that it was almost impossible to imagine any agreement by all political parties on a joint text.
After four hours of negotiations, in which the European People’s Party (EPP) and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the first and third largest parties at the Parliament, teamed up to delete the most poisonous language from the document. The end result is still not satisfying, but much worse was prevented.
They are the face of the true friends of Israel in Europe. They seek to achieve the best possible outcome with what they’re given – a very bad deal. Nevertheless, they prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We reacted and used our political weight to tone down the text as much as feasibly possible. It was the choice of the lesser evil.
We took out, for example, the wording, which called for the release of all Palestinian political prisoners currently serving sentences in Israeli jails. The ECR and EPP refused profusely to include any such reference, arguing that some terrorists are in prison because they planned to commit, directly or indirectly, a terrorist act. Releasing such people would go entirely against peace and EU values. Finally, the left was forced to make a huge concession to leave out any such reference in the final draft of the resolution.
Other wording that was deleted from the text included the call for the labelling of Israeli produce originating from entities beyond the green line. The draft text called for the “correct labelling of Israeli settlement produce on the EU market, in line with existing EU legislation.” The ECR and the EPP once again used their political weight and demanded any such reference be omitted. How can, we argued, such reference be conducive to the EU’s attempt to create a positive environment in which peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians can resume?
Another success of our persistence was the inclusion of the passage that any rocket fire into Israel by militant groups is unacceptable and that it is imperative for the EU to work in partnership with Israel to prevent the re-arming of terrorist groups in Gaza and the West Bank. Unfortunately, the basic notion of Palestinian terrorism is always downplayed in the corridors of the European institutions. It is the friends of Israel who remind their left-wing colleagues, that the latter is the root cause for instability in the region and the true obstacle to peace.
All in all, the end result is not perfect but worse was prevented. In Europe, the friends of Israel, want to retain strong economic, scientific and security cooperation with Israel. Side by side with the Jewish state, we want to equally benefit from EU-Israeli collaboration and secure and safe and prosperous future for both our regions. We therefore will continue to work hard to secure strong EU-Israel relations and expand our cooperation in this coming new year.
Bastiaan Belder is a Dutch member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group at the European Parliament. He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and serves as Vice-Chair of the Israel Delegation. He is also an advisory board member of the Europe-Israel Public Affairs.
[NOTE: The joint draft resolution, before amendments, is at B8 0840/2015]
PM: EU vote to label Israel settlement products echoes Nazi era
Netanyahu calls decision a ‘distortion of justice,’ says Israel has ‘historical memory’ of European marking of Jewish goods
By Tamar Pileggi and Times of Israel
September 11, 2015
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday slammed a resolution passed by the European Parliament that advocated a distinction between Israel and its West Bank settlements, and the labeling of settlement produce.
The PM called the move “unjust,” and intimated that it echoed decisions taken during the Nazi era.
“It is simply a distortion of justice and of logic and I think that it also hurts peace; it does not advance peace,” he said in a statement. “The root of the conflict is not the territories, and the root of the conflict is not the settlements. We have historical memory of what happened when Europe labelled Jewish products.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Israel would not accept “discrimination” between goods produced in different parts of its territory.
“Labelling of products amounts to a boycott,” she said, hours after the European vote.
European lawmakers called earlier Thursday for the “differentiation between Israel and its activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” and encouraged EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini “to take the lead within the commission with a view to completing the work on EU-wide guidelines on the labelling of Israeli settlement produce.”
The resolution was passed by 525 votes to 70, with 31 abstentions.
The Foreign Ministry lashed out against the EU in a scathing response to the motion, saying, “The State of Israel takes the parliament’s decision seriously, in particular the call for labelling products. The process of labelling is discriminatory, and reeks of boycott.
“Under the guise of a technical procedure, it’s an attempt to force a diplomatic solution, instead of encouraging the Palestinians to return to negotiations,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. “Europe treats Israel with sanctimonious hypocrisy, while it doesn’t raise the issue of similar solutions in Northern Cyprus and Western Sahara.”
European parliamentarians also called on Mogherini and EU Special Representative Fernando Gentilini to promote a two-state solution within the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative, and said individual member nations needed to play a greater political role in the peace process.
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in April 2014, and few efforts have been made publicly to restart negotiations.
The resolution stressed that the rights of Israeli and Palestinian civilians were the immediate priority, and noted the dire humanitarian crisis resulting from the slow pace of the Gaza Strip’s reconstruction in the wake of last summer’s devastating war there.
“Preserving the viability of the two-state solution through concrete action and ensuring full respect for the rights of civilians on both sides must be an immediate priority for the EU and the international community,” the resolution said.
It further called the reconstruction of Gaza a humanitarian aid priority for the EU and the international community, and urged donor nations to honor their pledges to the cash-strapped United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The text also expressed support for reactivating the now-defunct EU Border Assistance Mission — EUBAM — at Gaza’s Rafah Crossing with Egypt “with a more ambitious mandate and adequate means” in order to take a “concrete role” in the control of the border.
The resolution was passed by 525 votes to 70, with 31 abstentions.
Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon invited Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to a meeting later this month of the Middle East Quartet seeking a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The invitation follows a decision by the Quartet in February to include Arab countries in the diplomatic effort to restart the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Mogherini said the EU had “revitalized the work of the Quartet” and voiced hope that this could help “reopen prospective and political horizons to the talks.”
The 2002 Arab Peace Initiative calls for an Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian territories in exchange for full normalization of ties between Israel and the Arab world.
AFP contributed to this report.
European Parliament resolution on the EU’s role in the Middle East peace process (2015/2685(RSP))
B8‑0836/2015
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Middle East,
– having regard to the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council on the Middle East Peace Process of 17 November 2014,
– having regard to the conclusions of the Foreign Affairs Council on the Middle East Peace Process of 22 July 2014,
– having regard to UN Security Council Resolution 1701,
– having regard to Rule 123(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to be viewed in the larger context of the Israeli-Arab conflict;
B. whereas any change in the status quo affecting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict might have destabilising effects;
1. Welcomes the appointment of Mr Fernando Gentilini as the EU Special Representative to the Middle East Peace Process (EUSR MEPP) and supports the EUSR MEPP in his efforts to restart the MEPP in cooperation with the Quartet, the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government;
2. Reiterates its continued support for a negotiated two-states-for-two-peoples solution on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions; therefore welcomes the Arab Peace Initiative and the New Paradigm for the Israeli-Palestinian Political Process as a basis for a lasting solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, and supports the return to direct peace negotiations without delay;
3. Welcomes the positive role and necessary support that the EU wishes to provide in facilitating the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the larger Israeli-Arab conflict through peaceful and constructive means, which serve the EU’s interests of security, stability and prosperity in the Middle East; calls on the EU to devise a positive incentives package for both the Palestinians and the Israelis, to be implemented by all parties, including regional actors such as the League of Arab States, at the start of the negotiations, as the sole means of successfully creating the necessary positive atmosphere in which the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority can be relaunched and trust be rebuilt; urges all the EU institutions and Member States, for that reason, to encourage trade, cultural, scientific, energy, water and economic relations between Israel and its neighbours in the region, including trilateral trade between Member States, Israel and the Palestinian Authority;
4. Notes that recent events in the wider Middle East pose serious threats to the EU, as well as to its immediate neighbours; reiterates the EU’s fundamental commitment to the security of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and all other countries in the Middle East, including with regard to current and emerging threats in the region; notes specifically, for that reason, the serious threat posed by ISIS and other terrorist organisations to the citizens of the Middle East and calls upon relevant regional actors to cease the funding of terror groups who commit gross atrocities and human rights violations;
5. Stresses the imperative need for the EU to work in partnership with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Jordan towards preventing the re-arming of terrorist groups in Gaza and the West Bank, their smuggling of weapons, manufacturing of rockets and building of tunnels; stresses once more the overwhelming need for a demilitarised Gaza and an end to the armament of Hamas, in line with the Foreign Affairs Council conclusion of July 2014; calls upon all terrorist groups to put an immediate end to their activities and to renounce violence so as to realise the long overdue peace, stability and prosperity in both Israel and the future Palestinian state;
6. Denounces the use of hate speech and incitement in the public arena, which run counter to the Middle East Peace Process and EU values of fostering a culture of peace; calls on the Palestinian Authority to recognise Israel’s legitimate right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people; calls on the Palestinian Authority to uphold non-violence, to respect previous agreements and to facilitate cooperation in the reconstruction of Gaza; reiterates the call on the Palestinian leadership to use its UN status constructively and not to undertake unilateral steps which would lead further away from a negotiated solution;
7. Stresses the need for the opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and people to and from the Gaza Strip, and the need for EU funding to go to specific, well-defined projects in Gaza, in line solely with the trilateral mechanism for financial support, and for it to be ensured that it goes to the civilians intended; reiterates the need for the Palestinian Authority to take charge of the Gaza Strip;
8. Calls on the Commission and the European External Action Service to provide funding to NGOs in the region whose political goals are in line with the overall goals of the Middle East Peace Process;
9. Welcomes the setting up of the Euro-Mediterranean Gas Platform; highlights the role this initiative can play in fostering regional cooperation and bringing North African and European countries closer together through cooperation on energy-related matters;
10. Stresses that enhanced dialogue on energy-related issues in the Mediterranean could help spur regional cooperation, promote regional stability and ensure environmental integrity; suggests therefore that the EU engage more strongly in energy diplomacy in the MENA region, as outlined in the Energy Union;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the governments and parliaments of the members of the UN Security Council, the Middle East Quartet Envoy, the Knesset and the Government of Israel, the President of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Parliament and Government of Egypt, the Parliament and Government of Jordan, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the members of the Arab League.