by Yonathan Avner Ben Yisrael
Many people around the
world saw the headlines several weeks ago that Sweden's newly
inaugurated left-wing government, on the holiest day of the Jewish
calendar and mere days after the controversial election results, had
issued its most severe statement yet. Out of a diplomatic,
socio-economic and national security policy position, came the desperate
call from Prime Minister Stefan Lofven for Sweden to be the first
European nation to recognize the so-called Palestinian state. This
reveals the newly revived destructive attitude within the Scandinavian
flagship nation. Sweden has regained the anti-Israel sentiments that
epitomized the era of the late Prime Minister Olof Palme.
What most people don't
know is the important role that Sweden plays as a major facilitator in
the Palestinian statehood race. The public servants and the involved
authorities, ministerial departments and their spokespeople do not
openly mention their direct engagement and commitment to act in the
inflammatory Israel-Palestine conflict. On the surface you can merely
trace the extremist ideological core values within the headquarters of
the non-existing state in Ramallah and Gaza, which is diligently working
to hide its true agenda from its third-largest funder.
Sweden's active
participation in the Palestine statehood affair is being promoted as a
purely moral entrepreneurship, namely a nation-building incentive.
Geopolitically, Sweden could not possibly have anything to gain by
winning this lunatic race to be the first "democratic" EU-member to
declare its support for Palestinian statehood, other than gaining
political influence in the Middle East as well as appeasing the
fast-increasing Muslim immigrant population harbored in Sweden.
The Arab lobby in
Europe, particularly in Sweden, has reached new strengths. The
tremendous magnitude of the 70-plus years of ongoing lobbying efforts is
not commonly known to the average Swedish taxpayer.
According to prominent
Palestinian opposition leader Mudar Zahran, who toured Sweden in a
political campaign earlier this year, every Swedish citizen pays 500
Swedish kronors ($70) annually to the terrorist cluster
(Fatah/PLO/PA/Hamas) that Lofven considers a sister party, thus sharing
its moral and political values and aspirations.
I highly doubt that the
hard-working Swedish people wish to fund this malicious and deceptive
constellation, with its extremely lethal attitude toward both its
neighbor and its own members, young and old. Nor would they accept that
earmarked "humanitarian aid" is actually funneled into heinous terrorist
activities in Gaza.
I firmly support the
principle of transparency and integrity on the subject of tax-funded
donations to less fortunate states. But that doesn't legitimize the
direct financing of quasi-states whose main objective is the
extermination of the only democracy in the Middle East and whose leaders
deceive taxpayers by denying access to clear visibility and financial
accountability.
Despite the strained
bilateral diplomatic ties between the State of Israel and Sweden, the
Jewish state should intensify its public diplomacy efforts toward
EU-member states. Apparently, and unfortunately, Israel did not succeed
in bringing any game-changing momentum to those ties over the last eight
years, when there was a central right-oriented coalition government in
Sweden.
Given the chance,
Sweden would undoubtedly enjoy much of what Israel has to offer
humanity. All it has to do is to give up its hostile attitude toward
Israel -- the most thriving and blossoming society in an area of the
world dominated by an overwhelming number of entwined adversaries. Could
this scenario become a reality in the future?
Imagine how much the
Swedish people could benefit from improving the country's agricultural
sector, by partnering with the leading nation in the high-tech sector,
by sharing all the magnificent innovations and entrepreneurial projects
that the "Startup Nation" has generated, by creating joint ventures in
the field of green technology. All this could be achieved if only the
political handcuffs on Israel are loosened a bit. Sweden could
potentially strike a tremendous romantic alliance with the light of
nations.
In today's political
landscape, the citizens of the world should demand backstage passes to
their public servants' decision-making process. We should not be branded
as extremists when criticizing our elected political leaders'
imperfections, such as leading a country's GDP to an unprecedented low,
for example.
It is high time for
Sweden and its new leadership to show some much-needed responsibility,
setting a higher moral standard in their policy-making, and starting to
legitimately uphold Sweden's status of neutrality, which heretofore has
been questionable.
Yonathan Avner Ben Yisrael is a founding director of Swedish Jewish Dialogue who is active in the U.S. and Europe as a pro-Israel lobbyist.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=10355
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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