As anti-Zionism gains in strength in Europe, calls for the destruction of Israel move from the fringe to elected officials. I will track this theme on an occasional basis, in reverse chronological order.
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Jan Marijnissen, leader of the Socialist party in the Netherlands.
Terrorisme is iets van alle tijden en overal, en heeft vaak tot doel het de bezetter zo onaangenaam mogelijk te maken. In de Tweede Wereldoorlog hebben Nederlanders hier gemeentehuizen opgeblazen om zand in de vernietigingsmachine van nazi-Duitsland te gooien – bij de burgerlijke stand stonden de joden geregistreerd. In het Midden-Oosten is het niet veel anders. Het islamitische fundamentalisme, inclusief de terroristische tak, is een reactie op de bezetting van Palestina door Israël, op de Amerikaanse aanwezigheid in het Midden-Oosten, en op de steun van het Westen aan ondemocratische regimes in het Midden-Oosten. Kijk, ik ben tegen geweld, maar het is toch wel een beetje dom als je niet kunt begrijpen hoe dat mechanisme werkt.
In English:
Terrorism occurs in all times and places and its objective is usually to make things as unpleasant as possible for the occupier. During World War II, Dutch people thwarted Nazi Germany's destruction machine by blowing up town halls, because this was where the Jews were registered. Things are not all that different in the Middle East. Islamic fundamentalism, including the terrorist wing, is a reaction to Israel's occupation of Palestine, to America's presence in the Middle East and to the West's support of undemocratic regimes in the Middle East.
(July 22, 2006)
 Jacques Myard. |
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De multiples témoignages directs proviennent du Liban de la part de Français séjournant au Sud Liban et à Tyr en particulier, selon lesquels l'armée israélienne tire à vue sur tout ce qui bouge, sur des civils notamment. … Il n'est pas admissible que nous laissions agir ainsi Israël. Le gouvernement français doit prendre toutes les mesures y compris militaires, conformément au droit international qui le permet, pour protéger ses ressortissants et faire cesser ces attaques indignes sur des populations civiles. … La France se doit d'agir. Elle ne peut pas se contenter de convaincre ses alliés dont on connaît trop la pusillanimité dans ce conflit.
In English:
Multiple direct testimonies from French people remaining in the south, and in Tyre in particular, indicate that the Israeli army fires at sight on all that moves, and on civil targets especially. … We cannot let act Israel thus. The French government must take all steps including military ones, in accordance with international law, to protect its nationals and to put an end to these unworthy attacks on civil populations. … France must act. It cannot be satisfied to convince its allies, whose pusillanimity in this conflict is known.
(July 18, 2006)
 George Galloway. |
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The "Christian Members" of Sweden's Social Democratic Party – traditionally a powerful group - has just finished their congress in which they focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict, complete with attendance of the Israeli ambassador and the PLO "ambassador." The congress voted for a policy document that demanded nothing less than war on Israel. If the "the occupation continues and the crimes against international law and human rights persist," it says, the Swedish government should push for international forces "to be sent to the area, with or without the consent of the parties." Here is the congress' statement in Swedish:
Om freden dröjer, ockupationen fortgår samt folkrätts- och människorättsbrotten fortsätter bör den svenska regeringen verka för att internationell trupp sänds till området, med eller utan parternas godkännande.
Tino Sanandaji, a graduate student in economics who brought this news to my attention (which can be further read about here and here), comments that
Such a decision would be a surprise coming from any European party, but all the more so from Sweden, the country on this planet that has gone longest without engaging in war (not since 1814). The political culture is focused on neutrality and has opposed military action even to remove dictators like Saddam or to prevent genocide. This makes the demand for military action against the only full democracy in the Middle East particularly shocking. It results directly from the increasingly hostile climate to Israel.
The Social Democrats are destroying Sweden's international credibility with their anti-Israeli extremism. While not all Swedes engage in this hate-campaign against Israel, and especially not those in the center and on the right, the opposition is weak. Further, the media (and most of all the Social Democratic-controlled state television) is deeply anti-Israel.
Sanandaji calls on friends of Israel to act against "this madness," saying that a strong reaction from the outside world can pressure the government to denounce this war-on-Israel document. He suggests writing to the foreign minister, Laila Freivalds, or to the international secretary of the Christian Social Democrats, Thomas Brundin. (July 30, 2005)
Paul Marie Coûteaux is the author of books with titles like Let Us Not Permit France to Die and A Little Séjour in France, and he is a member of the European Parliament. And here were his remarks three years ago today to parliament in the original French
Mais il y a un autre déséquilibre grave où notre responsabilité est engagée, c'est le déséquilibre des forces. Il faut que nous envisagions - je n'hésite pas à le dire - à doter la partie arabe d'une force suffisante, y compris d'une force nucléaire suffisante, pour qu'Israël ne se croit pas tout permis.
The official EU translation renders them thus in English:
There is, however, another serious imbalance for which we are in part responsible, namely the imbalance of forces. I have no hesitation in saying that we must consider giving the Arab side a large enough force, including a large enough nuclear force, to persuade Israel that it cannot simply do whatever it wants.
Comment: Coûteaux is effectively calling for a second Holocaust. (May 16, 2004)
