Israelis warn EU not to impose sanctions
By Avi Machlis in Jerusalem and Judy Dempsey in Brussels
Published: April 14 2002 17:02 | Last Updated: April 14 2002
Israeli officials on Sunday warned that any sanctions by the Europeans would mark the end of the European Union's attempts to boost its involvement in seeking a diplomatic solution to the Middle East crisis.
The warning was made ahead of Monday's meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg where Belgium and Spain want to consider taking tough measures against Israel for its military offensive in the Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank.
As a first step, some EU countries want to convene an early meeting of the EU-Israel free-association agreement, scheduled for December. The agreement, which grants Israel preferential trading terms, was signed in 1995 and came into force in 2000. It contains a human-rights clause that Belgium wants to invoke as one of the instruments to impose sanctions.
Britain, Germany and the Netherlands are opposed to such suggestions because Israel would accuse the Europeans of being one-sided and because Europe's attempts in playing a greater diplomatic role in the region would be marginalised.
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news.ft.com
LOL... What a farce! As if Judeofascist Europe would ever have proceeded with its boycott BLUFF against Israel.... But now, the masquerade is all over: as EU ministers convene today in Luxembourg to discuss sanctions against Israel, they'll greedily snatch the bargaining chip offered by their Israeli friends: European Judeofascists will likely bamboozle public opinion by saying that, in order for them to be instrumental at the impending Mideast conference, they had but to scrap economic sanctions against Israel.... Talk about a face-saver! Hey, Europe's slyness won't stop there: they'll presumably call for Arafat to attend the conference --posturing once again as the Arabs' best ally... such a fraud! Just as the Americans were first to break Israel's quarantine of Arafat (Zinni), they're also the ones who are presently imposing him as the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. After all, who needs the European support after a THREE-HOURS meeting with the US Secretary of State???
As I said, the status quo dies hard....
Gus |
