• La réponse de l’Europe à l’annexion de la Cisjordanie par Israël
    Gideon Levy, 16 mai 2020
    https://charleroi-pourlapalestine.be/index.php/2020/05/17/la-reponse-decevante-de-leurope-a-lannexion-de-la-cisjorda

    15 mai 2020. Dans le village de Sawiya, près de Naplouse, à l’occasion du 72e anniversaire de la Nakba, un Palestinien participe à une manifestation contre le plan israélien prévoyant d’annexer certaines parties de la Cisjordanie occupée. (Photo : Majdi Mohammed, AP)

    Les choses sont bien claires désormais pour les gens qui étaient embarrassés : Israël peut annexer la Cisjordanie autant qu’il le désire – l’Europe ne se mettra pas en travers de son chemin.

    Tous ceux qui pensaient qu’ils pourraient insuffler de la crainte dans nos cœurs à propos de la réaction de l’Europe à l’annexion avaient oublié ce qu’est l’Europe, à quel point elle est paralysée, coincée, craintive, divisée et désarmée face à Israël.

    À l’ancienne présidente de Meretz, Zehava Galon, qui avait tweeté après la réunion des ministres des Affaires étrangères de l’Union européenne vendredi : « Quiconque pense que l’annexion se passera tranquillement pour nous… », on peut rétorquer : Elle se passera en effet très tranquillement. Ne comptez pas sur l’Europe. Il n’y a personne ni rien sur qui ou quoi compter. L’Europe, comme toujours, sortira des déclarations, tiendra des consultations, convoquera des ambassadeurs – et restera sur la touche.

    L’Europe classique est une Europe neutre, qui n’intervient contre aucune injustice commise par Israël. Nous n’attendons rien des États-Unis, et certainement pas sous la présidence de Donald Trump, comme nous n’avions rien à attendre de ses prédécesseurs non plus, à ce propos.

    L’Europe de l’Est « non classique » soutient avec admiration toute violence commise par Israël. Le seul espoir réside dans le coin situé au nord-ouest de la carte, l’endroit que le Premier ministre Benyamin Netanyahou tend à montrer du doigt en disant : « C’est le seul endroit où nous avons un problème. » C’est le seul endroit où il y avait de l’espoir, pensions-nous naguère. C’est désormais une déception aussi.

    Le résultat des délibérations de vendredi entre les ministres des Affaires étrangères est caractéristique de l’Europe classique sous son pire profil. « Configurer des projets associés », « tourner une nouvelle page » vis-à-vis du nouveau gouvernement israélien : les sanctions constituent « un problème complexe » et cela « ne veut pas dire que nous le ferons demain ». Aucune surprise, là !

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    Europe’s disappointing response to Israeli annexation of the West Bank
    Gideon Levy May 16, 2020 | Haaretz.com
    https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-europe-s-disappointing-response-to-israeli-annexation-of-the-west-

    The all-clear has sounded for those who were worried: Israel can annex the West Bank as much as it wants – Europe will not stand in its way. Anyone who thought they could strike fear into our hearts over Europe’s reaction to annexation forgot what Europe is, how paralyzed it is, how coerced, fearful, divided and helpless it is in the face of Israel.

    Former Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon, who tweeted after the meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Friday: “Whoever thinks that annexation will pass quietly for us…” can be told: It will indeed pass very quietly. Don’t count on Europe. There’s no one and nothing to count on. Europe, as always, will formulate statements, hold consultations, summon ambassadors – and stand on the sidelines.

    Classical Europe is neutral Europe, which doesn’t intervene against any injustice Israel commits. We have no expectations from the United States, certainly not under the presidency of Donald Trump, nor under his predecessors for that matter. “Non-Classical” Eastern Europe admiringly supports every violent thing Israel does. The only hope is the northwestern tip of the map, the one Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tends to point to and say: “That’s the only place we have a problem.” That’s the only place where there was hope, we once thought. That’s a disappointment now as well.

    The outcome of Friday’s deliberations of foreign ministers is Classical Europe at its worst. “Mapping of joint projects;” “turning a new page” vis a vis the new Israeli government; sanctions are “a complex issue;” and it “doesn’t mean we’ll do it tomorrow.” No surprise there. Fifty-three years of occupation that persists under your silence, your funding, your arms, and the spokesman for EU external affairs tells reporters who ask about sanctions not to put the cart before the horse. There’s time. Fifty-three years of occupation whose legitimacy is recognized by no international institution in the world, and the EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell says that there’s no comparison to Russia’s occupation of Crimea. There, the territory belongs to a sovereign state. Israel’s outgoing propaganda minister, Gilad Erdan, could not have put it better. Europe is with the Israeli right. When it came the occupation of Crimea, Europe in fact knew how to respond with action and immediately. But Russia scares Europe much less than Israel does.

    When it comes to Israel there are other rules, and a different international law, and different conduct. Fear of the United States on the one hand and guilt over the Holocaust on the other, together with the unbelievable efficiency and extortion efforts of the Zionist propaganda machine, stronger than any obligation to international law, than the obligation that Europe has to the fate of the Palestinians, and stronger than European public opinion, which is much more critical of Israel than any government.

    The European Union’s Erasmus+ education funding and its Horizon 2020 research programs are in danger. That’s Europe’s response to annexation. Stopping joint research projects will prevent occupation. Don’t make Israel and its settlers laugh. Instead of imposing real sanctions – from a sweeping ban on settlers entering Europe and through economic sanctions – they threaten Erasmus+. Europe’s insistence on a two-state solution – when some of its leaders already know and sometimes admit in closed conversations is already a lost cause – plays into the hands of Israeli apartheid, which also knows how to mumble the term two states, if only there were a partner, and then builds tens of thousands more houses in the West Bank.

    One can of course argue that it isn’t Europe’s role to bring about world justice or clean up after Israel. But after all, the European Union has higher pretenses than just a common market. Europe, which was silent and closed its eyes in the past, is doing it again. Perhaps it will soon summon presumptive foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi and he will promise them that Israel will work to enact the two-state solution. Four and a half million people will continue to suffocate without rights and without a future, and Brussels will go on patting itself on the back and feeling good about itself – after all, it threatened to cancel Erasmus+.

    #IsraelUE

    • Canada’s Trudeau joins international opposition to Israel’s annexation plans
      Meanwhile, Fatah leadership calls on Palestinians to ’prepare’ for annexation, but a senior official tells Haaretz its response would not be ’irreversible’
      Noa Landau, Jack Khoury | May 18, 2020 | 8:03 PM
      https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-leaders-call-on-palestinians-to-prepare-for-annexation-as-israel-g

      Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday in a statement congratulating Israel’s new government that “in these times of uncertainty, our commitment to international law and the rules-based international order is more important than ever,” hinting at the government’s pledge to annex parts of the West Bank.

      Trudeau’s remarks, touting Canada and Israel’s “long history as close friends,” is the latest in statements made by leaders and international groups, warning the new government, sworn in on Sunday, against its annexation proposal.

      Meanwhile, the Fatah Central Committee called on the Palestinian public to “prepare” for the consequences of a future Israeli annexation and pointed to comments from Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Friday that if Israel proceeds with the plans it will lead to a “major clash” with his country.

      A senior official told Haaretz that despite these remarks, the Palestinian leadership does not intend to respond with decisions or moves that would be “irreversible.” This was despite continuous statements from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that annexation would bring an end to all Palestinian Authority agreements with Israel.

      The executive committee of the Palestinian Liberation Organization will convene on Tuesday, also to discuss its response to the proposed annexation. The meeting was postponed from last week because the Palestinian leadership was waiting until after the swearing-in of the new Israeli government, according to Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh.

      On Monday, Israel’s new Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said that the controversial Trump middle east peace plan will be pushed forward “responsibly, in coordination with the United States while safeguarding peace agreements and Israel’s strategic interests.”

      Kahol Lavan leader and new Defense Minister Benny Gantz also said on Monday he was “committed to doing whatever is needed to advance diplomatic arrangements and to seek peace. Peace was and remains an important Zionist aspiration. At the same time, and for this purpose, we will preserve our power so we can exploit regional opportunities in general and to advance the American administration’s and President Trump’s peace plan, with everything it includes.”

      In Europe, high-level discussions have been going on for a number of days in an attempt to draw up sanctions to annexation that won’t require a consensus by mapping joint projects with Israel that could be damaged by unilateral steps that violate international law. At the same time, the continent gave positive messages to the new Israeli government about the possibility of “turning a new page” with Europe.

      President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, known as S&D, Iratxe García Pérez said in a statement on Sunday that they are “deeply concerned about the birth of the new Netanyahu-led government.” Adding that Netanyahu’s continued premiership is a “dangerous… political programme,” that could lead to “Israel’s illegal annexation of the occupied territories.”

      The United States under President Trump has supported annexation as part of its so-called Middle East Peace Plan, but European states and the United Nations have all condemned annexation as illegal under international law and spelling disaster for the prospects of a two-state solution.

      On Friday, the U.S. State Department’s spokeswoman said the Trump administration still wants to conduct direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as other regional actors, based on the administration’s Middle East plan.

      Spokeswoman Megan Ortagus added that Israeli annexation moves in the West Bank should be discussed in the broader context of direct peace talks.

      Last week, in during a whirlwind trip to Israel Netanyahu told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a joint statement that the new Israeli government presents an opportunity “to promote peace and security based on the understandings I reached with President Trump in my last visit in Washington.”

      Amir Tibon contributed to this report.