by Omer Dostri
The EU claims of illegal construction sound particularly ridiculous when it is working in total violation of its own policy, which encourages a "mutual solution through negotiation." In recent months, it has been revealed that the EU is funding illegal Palestinian construction in Area C of Judea and Samaria, which are under full Israeli control.
After last week's
condemnation by the American government of the plan to build 900 new
housing units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem, the
European Union has joined the chorus of criticism, arguing that "the
decision puts the two-state solution in danger."
This comes on the heels
of the absurd call by EU foreign ministers to boycott Israeli products
-- issued on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day -- by marking products
produced in settlements, as well as a resolution by the U.N. Conference
on the Status of Women in March that accused Israel of damaging the
status of Palestinian women.
The frequent
international decisions and condemnations indicate the great, dangerous
hypocrisy about Israel, mainly because of its "sin" of continuing to
develop itself as a nation and provide its citizens with a place to
live. This, while hundreds of thousands are killed and wounded in the
Syrian civil war; while the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State
group in Iraq and Syria is striking and killing dozens of civilians;
and while Saudi Arabia and Iran are fighting for control of Yemen
without demonstrating any particular respect for innocent lives.
The sanctity of life
that Israel chooses, which comes to fruition in construction,
development, and growth, is seen by the international community as
crimes against humanity, while the real crimes are not even condemned,
because not everything is worthy of world attention. The Ramat Shlomo
neighborhood in Jerusalem, our capital, home to over 17,000 residents,
is painted in Brussels, for example, as an illegal outpost made up of a
few tents on open ground on which construction demands constant
hysterical criticism and claims of "danger."
On the other hand, the
international community opts to ignore the path of death and destruction
the Palestinian side chooses. This path includes riots and terrorist
attacks throughout Jerusalem, which are directly attributable to the
incitement against Jews, the celebration of terrorists and the
encouragement of terrorist attacks that come out of the Palestinian
school system and media.
It seems that the
diplomatic steps taken by the past two governments under Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and the concessions entailed in them as a gesture of
good will and as a reward for the Palestinian Authority agreeing to sit
down for negotiations -- such as freezing settlement construction for 10
months as well as releasing terrorists from prison -- have vanished as
if they never existed, as has the recalcitrance of Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas, who unilaterally stopped the negotiations when
the taking ended and it was his turn to give.
The EU claims of
illegal construction sound particularly ridiculous when it is working in
total violation of its own policy, which encourages a "mutual solution
through negotiation." In recent months, it has been revealed that the EU
is funding illegal Palestinian construction in Area C of Judea and
Samaria, which are under full Israeli control. More than 400 homes for
Palestinian families have been built there in a gross external
intervention in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
The past few years have proved to
every objective thinker that settlements are not the obstacle to peace,
but the Palestinian Authority's rebuffs and continual, entrenched
incitement are. The EU -- which is conducting a willfully blind policy
out of cynical political motives -- cannot be considered a fair
intermediary, and decision makers in Israel should take its
condemnations in the same light.
Omer Dostri
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=12541
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment