RUTHFULLY YOURS

The 28 States that make up the European Union (EU) would like to see the Israeli-Palestinian peace process resume. They seek an ultimate solution that will establish a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital alongside the Jewish state. Both the Swedish and British parliaments (also Spain) have already voted to recognize a Palestinian state and others are sure to follow.

The Associated Press (AP) reported on Tuesday, (November 18, 2014) that “An internal European Union document proposes unspecified “actions” against Israel for its settlement activities in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, reflecting unhappiness with the lack of progress in Mideast peace efforts.”

According to the AP report, “The document calls for unspecified moves against European companies operating in Israeli settlements. It also proposes actions against settlers themselves, including a “no contact” policy toward settler organizations, and a refusal “to engage with settlers,” including public figures who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state.

The Europeans, burdened by a radicalized Muslim constituency, which in some of the EU states account for 10% of the population (France, Belgium), are pandering to their Muslim constituents with domestic and foreign policy concessions. One such concession is to push for a Palestinian state and punish Israel. The Muslim minorities have been co-opted by the socialist and leftist parties as a permanent voting bloc.

European colonial powers, including Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and others are laden with colonial guilt in a time when alleged “victimhood” is celebrated and pandered to, and “Human Rights” has become the Continent’s new religion, replacing Christianity. In today’s EU world, “Better red than dead” has been replaced by “Better green than dead.”

In order to preserve their “Dolce vita” or good life, the Europeans were willing to submit to Communism if they could keep their month-long paid vacations and generous welfare perks. Today, they are willing to submit to Islam in order to preserve their lives and property. After two world wars, the Europeans are tired and unwilling to fight. They resent America even though the U.S. has protected them from the Soviet Union, and is continuing to protect them from Russian, Iranian, and Islamic jihadist threats. They also resent Israel for resisting the jihadists, and for its chosen particularism as a Jewish state. Anti-Semitism of the pre-war years is in decline on the Continent, but Israel has become the “collective Jew,” a subject of derision and hatred.

European life today has little consideration for the future. Birthrates are negative or below replacement. There aren’t enough young people to replace the retirees in most European states. Immigrants include Middle East and North African Muslims who believe that in time they will be able to impose Shariah law, and convert the Continent to Dar el-Islam, or the domain of Islam. The parties that resist Islamic takeover are labeled racist and are ostracized by the European political elites, media and academia.

A European state such as Sweden has conveniently ignored the fact that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas forged an unexpected unity pact with the rival Islamist group Hamas, which is considered by the EU a terrorist organization, and has vowed to destroy the Jewish state. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the talks on April 24, after Fatah-Hamas signed a unity government pact.

It is apparent that the issue of “Jewish settlements,” is a subterfuge for the Europeans, particularly when considering the areas bordering the Green Line, most of which is designated as Area C under the Oslo Accords, that will be annexed to Israel in any future peace settlement. Moreover, Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which subsequently became “judenrein,” didn’t bring peace; instead, it brought terror and death to Israelis. Hamas jihadists took over Gaza in 2007, and they have no intention of negotiating with Israel, much less recognizing the Jewish State or making peace with Israel.

The peace that the Europeans seek is unlikely to bring security to Israelis. The Europeans want to satisfy their Muslim constituents by supporting a Palestinian state. Many of the Europeans and especially Sweden ignored the basic tenet that a lasting peace settlement must be a result of a negotiated settlement and not unilateral action. Additionally, Palestine doesn’t meet the criteria for recognition as a state, by being unable to exercise effective government control over a defined territory and population.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) was supposed to curtail anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement under the provisions of the Oslo Accords. Instead of preparing its people for peace with Israel and the Jewish people, the PA increased its anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement. In fact, the PA has poisoned an entire generation of young Palestinians with anti-Semitic hate befitting the Nazi “Der Sturmer”. The PA media, school curriculum, and official mosque sermons have employed religious overtones similar to Hamas’ in describing the conflict with the Jews. Koranic and Hadith verses are used to portray Jews as “pigs and monkeys” rejected by Allah for their evil. Caricatures showing Jews as vermin that must be destroyed are being taught to five-year old children. They are instructed that Israel itself is “occupied Palestinian territory,” and the official PA maps erase Israel’s existence.

This is ultimately the most critical reason why peace between the Palestinians and Israelis remains elusive. Leaders might sign peace accords, but unless the PA teaches its people to accept their hitherto enemy, peace can never be real. The value of peace has never been advocated to the Palestinian people by their leaders. Even if Israel stopped all settlement activities, it won’t mitigate Palestinian violent hatred, or bring acceptance of Israel’s legitimacy by the Palestinian-Arab people

A few samples from the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) illustrate the point. The official Palestinian daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (August 20, 2014) published an Op Ed piece by Izz Al-Din As’ad that read: “Establishing a Jewish state means the Jewish territory controlled by the Jewish State will be land for Jews only. In the Palestinian case, this is a complex issue, because the state is colonialist, settler and Orientalist state, which fabricated a historical narrative in order to colonize Palestine. It will act forcefully to destroy Arab society in Palestine, which was colonized in 1948. This may amount to the expulsion of the Palestinians living in Jerusalem, in order to cleanse the Jewish state of the ‘gentiles’…”

On October 22, 2014 Al-Hayat Al-Jadida by Dr. Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the Supreme Shariah Judge, and Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs stated, “Selling or handing over lands and real estate in Jerusalem and all of Palestine to the Israeli occupation or settlers constitutes treason and a violation of Islamic law…” Al-Habbash emphasized that “according to Islamic Shariah law, the entire land of Palestine is wakf (an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) land, and that it is prohibited to sell, bestow ownership or facilitate the occupation of even a millimeter of it.”

Sheikh Taleb Al-Silwadi, in his weekly column/sermon in Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (December 21, 2012) wrote: “We have our Palestinian nation, engaged in Ribat, (religious war defending Islamic land) challenging the tyranny and oppression of the Zionists, those descendants of monkeys and pigs…”

It is high time for the Europeans to end their hypocrisy and address the real obstacles to peace negotiations and a peaceful coexistence between Israel and the Palestinians. Providing almost half of its budget, Brussels has a great deal of leverage over the PA. Instead of focusing on extra buildings erected in Jerusalem or Judea and Samaria (West Bank), the EU ought to address PA incitement that ends in terror against the innocents, and kills the prospects of peace.