EU: Future agreements with Israel won't apply to territories

[Israeli]

Jerusalem says decree will make it impossible to sign accords with Brussels without recognizing in writing that West Bank settlements are not part of Israel.

The European Union has published a binding directive to all 28 member states forbidding any funding, cooperation, awarding of scholarships, research funds or prizes to anyone residing in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The regulation, which goes into effect on Friday, requires that any agreement or contract signed by an EU country with Israel include a clause stating that the settlements are not part of the State of Israel and therefore are not part of the agreement.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the new ruling, which was published on June 30, as an "earthquake."

"This is the first time such an official, explicit directive has been published by the European Union bodies," the senior official said. "Until today there were understandings and quiet agreements that the Union does not work beyond the Green Line [the pre-1967-war border]; now this has become a formal, binding policy."

Read on @

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/eu-orders-member-states-exclude-west-bank-settlements-from-any-future-deals-with-israel.premium-1.535952

[dipsydoodle]

1. This has been building up for some time.

One of the issues is food labeling confirming country of origin which cannot be marked Israel if for example it comes from a West Bank settlement.

The TUC in the UK wanted a complete ban on all goods from the settlements : http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-21194-f0.cfm

[Israeli]

2. been building up for some time here to ...

See :

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/events/1310485548

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/archive/1309277483/

http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/channels/press_releases/1354640289

The "Boycott Law", passed in the Knesset a year and a half ago, allows the settlers and their supporters to file heavy claims for damages against anyone making a call for a boycott of settlement products.

The Gush Shalom movement made a public call for a boycott of settlement products some ten years ago, and has published a detailed list of settlement products which its activists kept updating. At the time, settler leaders and right-wing Knesset Members made harsh statements against Gush Shalom.

And precisely after the law was passed in the Knesset, other groups made high profile calls for boycott of the settlements, including "Peace Now" which set up a Facebook page entitled "Prosecute me, I boycott settlement products." Also peace activist Naftali Raz, editor of the online news site "On the Left Side" organized a petition signed by hundreds of people, making an explicit call to boycott settlement products. However, so far the settlers and their supporters did not take up the gauntlet.

"It's probably not by chance that they do not start proceedings under this law, and neglect to go through the legal doors thrown wide open for them. They probably realize that attempting to attack peace activists through their pockets will work against them, and that even if they won in court they would lose in the court of public opinion," says Adam Keller, Gush Shalom Spokesperson. "Nevertheless, this stain of anti-democratic legislation, violating the freedom of expression and of political activity, should be removed from the law books of the State of Israel. Individuals and organizations who consider the settlements to be illegal and immoral, constituting a serious threat to our future, have the right not to finance these settlements by buying their products. Those who wish to avoid buying settlement products are also entitled to do so in public and in an organized way."

Good for the EU ...will America follow ?... I doubt it .

[Eugene]

3. Israel slams EU's decision

Source: Xinhua

Israel slams EU's decision

English.news.cn 2013-07-17 05:32:48

JERUSALEM, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted Tuesday the European Union's decision to add a clause to agreements between its members and Israel specifying they will not apply to Israeli occupied territories in the West Bank.

In response, Netanyahu held an urgent meeting Tuesday afternoon with Justice Minister and chief peace negotiator Tzipi Livni, Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennet and Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Slamming the EU's decision, the Israeli prime minister said he expected the body to focus on other worrying developments in the region, such as the Syrian crisis and the Iranian nuclear issue, instead of Israel's settlement policy.

"As prime minister, I would not allow hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in Judea and Samaria (the biblical name of the West Bank) to be hurt, as well as those living in the Golan Heights and Jerusalem," said Netanyahu.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-07/17/c_125019039.htm

[Israeli]

6. Like a bucket of cold water ....

....poured on the head of a drunk, so the EU's decision reminded the power drunk government of Israeli of the reality in which we live" says Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc. "From now on, should the government seek to sign agreements and maintain relations with the EU and its member countries, it will have to note officially that the agreement does not apply to the settlements nor to East Jerusalem.

Already for forty-six years, the State of Israel is maintaining by force of arms an occupation of the West Bank, amounting to more than seventy percent of the Israel’s total history - yet nobody regards these territories as part of Israel (nor are they such under Israel’s own laws). For forty-six years, successive governments are grabbing Palestinian land and constructing settlements on it, devoting an enormous part of the country’s resources to this enterprise – yet nobody in the world accepts these accomplished facts. For forty-six years, the State of Israel claims East Jerusalem as part of its capital city - and nobody in the world recognizes it as such (and Israel itself treats the inhabitants of East Jerusalem as an occupied population).

More @ http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1373986640

[shira]

4. New EU directive about Israeli settlements raises serious questions

Is an Arab-owned organization or entity in the West Bank eligible for EU cooperation or funding? How about a Jewish-owned organization that employs non-Jews? An entity owned by both Jews and non-Jews? What exactly defines an organization or entity as Jewish or non-Jewish, or as eligible or not eligible? Its address? The ethnicity or religion of its owners, managers, or employees?

Does the EU have a similar directive for agreements with Turkey, regarding Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus—which the EU also doesn’t recognize? Or do EU contracts specify sovereign borders only for Israel? If the latter, what is the legal or moral basis for the distinction or dis

Does this new EU directive apply funding for all organizations operating in the West Bank, including those—like B’Tselem—that oppose the Israeli occupation and work to change or undermine Israeli government policies—in accordance with EU policies? Is it what the American legal system calls a “viewpoint neutral” policy, or one that actively seeks to endorse one specific political position and censor another—within a (democratic) third country?

Professor Avraham Bell an expert on International law adds the following questions

Does the EU have a similar directive for agreements with Morocco, regarding Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara? Or do EU contracts specify sovereign borders only for Israel?

Does the EU have a similar directive for agreements with Russia, regarding Russia’s occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia? Or do EU contracts specify borders only for Israel?

Does the EU have a similar directive for agreements with China, regarding China’s occupation of Tibet and Aksai Chin? Or do EU contracts specify borders only for Israel?

Does the EU have a similar directive for agreements with India, regarding India’s occupation of Arnuchal Pradesh and Kashmir? Or do EU contracts specify borders only for Israel?

Does the EU have a similar directive for agreements with Armenia, regarding Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno Karabach? Or do EU contracts specify borders only for Israel?

http://missingpeace.eu/en/2013/07/new-eu-directive-about-israeli-settlements-raises-serious-questions/

[shaayecanaan]

11. This fuckwit doesn't even have his story straight...

Russia, for example, isnt occupying Abkhazia or South Ossetia. Russia actually supports South Ossetian independence, contra Georgia.

As for his other questions:-

Is an Arab-owned organization or entity in the West Bank eligible for EU cooperation or funding?

There are virtually none (Arab Israeli entities in the West Bank). But if there were, then no.

How about a Jewish-owned organization that employs non-Jews?

There are virtually none. But if there were, then no.

An entity owned by both Jews and non-Jews?

No.

What exactly defines an organization or entity as Jewish or non-Jewish, or as eligible or not eligible?

Nothing. The question is not whether an enterprise is Jewish, but whether it is Israeli. Of course, Israeli settlements in the West Bank are virtually all Jewish, with very few Arabs permitted to live in any of them. But this is a testament to Israeli racism rather than racism on the part of the Europeans. It is ridiculous to assert that opposition to these settlements is racism.

[shira]

12. You're wrong, as usual

On July 9, 2012, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly passed a resolution at its annual session in Monaco, underlining Georgia’s territorial integrity and referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as “occupied territories”. The resolution “urges the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation, as well as the de facto authorities of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission unimpeded access to the occupied territories.” It also says that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is “concerned about the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons both in Georgia and in the occupied territories of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, as well as the denial of the right of return to their places of living.” The Assembly is the parliamentary dimension of the OSCE with 320 lawmakers from the organization’s 56 participating states, including Russia.[78]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazia

There are also about 22,500 Arabs employed inside settlement towns.

http://www.tlvfaces.com/labeling-goods-made-in-settlements-would-harm-arabs-most-of-all/

[shaayecanaan]

13. No, I'm not...

96% of South Ossetians support South Ossetian independence under the current model. Supporting a breakaway province is not occupation. If it were, then the United States and Europe would have to accept that they are occupying Kosovo.

[shira]

5. European court: Israel boycotts are unlawful discrimination

http://www.jpost.com/International/European-court-Israel-boycotts-are-unlawful-discrimination

Israel finally won one last week in an international human rights court. On Thursday, the Council of Europe's European Court of Human Rights upheld a French ruling that it was illegal and discriminatory to boycott Israeli goods, and that making it illegal to call for a boycott of Israeli goods did not constitute a violation of one's freedom of expression.

The Council of Europe is based in Strasbourg, has some 47 member states and is independent of the European Union. The court is made up of one judge from each member state, and the rulings of the court carry moral weight throughout Europe. On Thursday the court ruled by a vote of 6-1 that the French court did not violate the freedom of expression of the Communist mayor of the small French town of Seclin, Jean-Claude Fernand Willem, who in October 2002 announced at a town hall meeting that he intended to call on the municipality to boycott Israeli products. Jews in the region filed a complaint with the public prosecutor, who decided to prosecute Willem for "provoking discrimination on national, racial and religious grounds." Willem was first acquitted by the Lille Criminal Court, but that decision was overturned on appeal in September 2003 and he was fined €1,000. His appeal to a higher French court was unsuccessful, and as a result he petitioned the European Court of Human rights in March 2005, saying his call for a boycott of Israeli products was part of a legitimate political debate, and that his freedom of expression had been violated.

The court, made up of judges from Denmark, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Macedonia and the Czech Republic ruled that interference with the former mayor's freedom of expression was needed to protect the rights of Israeli producers. According to a statement issued by the court on Thursday, the court held the view that Willem was not convicted for his political opinions, "but for inciting the commission of a discriminatory, and therefore punishable, act. The Court further noted that, under French law, the applicant was not entitled to take the place of the governmental authorities by declaring an embargo on products from a foreign country, and moreover that the penalty imposed on him had been relatively moderate." The one dissenting opinion was written by the Czech judge. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor hailed the ruling Sunday, saying it provided important ammunition for those challenging on legal grounds calls frequently heard in Europe for a boycott of Israeli products, as well as calls for a boycott of Israeli academia. "It is now clear that in every country in Europe there is a precedent for calling boycotts of Israeli goods a violation of the law," Palmor said. "This is an important precedent, one that says very clearly that boycott calls are discriminatory. We hope this will help us push back against all the calls for boycotts of Israeli goods."

[azurnoir]

7. well that's really nice except and it might be news - the West Bank is not Israel

I know it's so hard to understand and all but no matter how many of it's civilian population Israel transfers in or how many of the Palestinian population Israel transfers out the West Bank even Area C is not Israel, so it's not boycott of Israel in any way shape or form

[shira]

8. Good point, but Israel doesn't transfer or deport its citizens either

The last time Jews were deported or transferred was Gaza 2005, and before that during WW2 to death camps.

[azurnoir]

9. Israel gives it's citizens financial incentive to move to the OPT and it transfers out

Palestinians living in the land Israel militarily occupies

[Israeli]

14. azurnoir

with referance to shira's post # 8 ....
you are missing her point :

but Israel doesn't transfer or deport its citizens either

The last time Jews were deported or transferred was Gaza 2005

* sigh *

you want to connect the dots ?

then read this :

Confessions of an Oslo criminal

by Yossi Sarid

(snip)

For the Garden of Eden it truly was: Two-thirds of Gush Katif residents drew their salaries from the public trough; 350 farmers got rich using cheap Arab labor, with even local children picking produce from the fields and in the hothouses; soldiers accompanied settlers going to the grocery store in the nearby town; 10,000 or so Jews amidst 1.5 million Palestinians in an arid land. This is how you do Zionism these days. Forget what it stands for; instead, make sure the fences are firm.

But then, at the height of success and prosperity – lo and behold, the death warrant was issued. The mind that delivered was the mind that erased, and ironically it was the mind’s right hemisphere. But the damned left hemisphere is always the one in charge of brainwashing. This week, one opinionated settler bemoaned the humbling of the thieves-turned-victims. “The left has yet to ask for forgiveness,” she wrote. “It is still not admitting ‘we were wrong’… I demand the left gets down on its knees and apologize.”

OK, I’m getting down on my knees right now. Indeed, we were wrong; we are guilty. It was a horrendous mistake to sign the Oslo Accords without committing ourselves to evacuating the settlements. The continuing settlement in the occupied territories ensured the accords’ failure. That was true in the West Bank and certainly true in the Gaza Strip. We had an opportunity to open a new page in our relations with the Palestinians and we blew it. We continued to write our history on the same old page.

(snip)

The Oslo Accords and the loosening of the noose around our neck were imperatives, not an invention of the left. Imagine that, despite all the errors, we were still denying the Palestinian Arab people their very existence, national rights and leaders. Jeremiah famously prophesied, “From the north disaster will come.” Well, this week, either disaster or its opposite came from Europe. And that’s just the start. And imagine, if you will, that to this day civilians and soldiers were being killed in the Gaza Strip, and that Israelis were continuing to grow their lettuce there, irrigated with stolen water and blood.

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.536602

[azurnoir]

15. Thanks good article

but ya know I swear I've read it before, been reading it for years figuratively anyway, sort of depressing when ya think about it, and well I was quite aware of the reference and why, but I also wasn't biting in the divergence from the settlers either

[Israeli]

16. and you will probably be reading it for many years to come .....

....yeah its depressing .... whats even more depressing is that all the Left has left is words .

.... and facts and the truth ....

and with regard to this :

This week, one opinionated settler bemoaned the humbling of the thieves-turned-victims. “The left has yet to ask for forgiveness,” she wrote. “It is still not admitting ‘we were wrong’… I demand the left gets down on its knees and apologize.”

.... no forgiveness and no apology .

[Israeli]

18. any chance that you could explain ....

to the one that I am trying to ignore ...

that in 2005 the law that led to the Disengagement, passed during the administration of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and that the Left had as much power then as they do today ?

Or perhaps she thinks Arik was a Leftist

[shira]

19. Apparently you don't read too well

My last post to you was about your tendency to demonize all settlers, which is really no different than the Kahanists who demonize all Palestinians. Not all settlers are Kahanists and they do not deserve your seething hatred.

[shira]

17. Hate blinds

Your rhetoric is a mirror-image of the most rightwing extreme Kahanist bile when they demonize Arabs as thieves and murderers.

You demonize Jewish settlers the same way.

It's just as ugly, and the anti-semites out there love hiding behind this as-a-Jew "criticism" that cannot possibly be hateful since it's coming from an Israeli Jew.

There's a difference between hammering the Kahanists vs. savaging all settlers. The former deserve it, but the latter? Come on. The sicko Hamasniks, Islamic Jihadis, and thugs from the PLO deserve to be hammered too, but not all Palestinians. Not the moderates suffering under those pieces of sh*t who just want to live their lives and be left alone. But here you are, treating all settlers - from Hebron to Gaza to the W.Bank - as the worst kind of Arab-hating Kahanist pieces of sh*t. Just like the Kahanists do WRT bashing all Palestinians, you're doing the same.

Hate makes people stupid.

[Scurrilous]

10. K & R