As Israel once
again begins firing retaliatory missiles into Gaza, the European
Coalition for Israel, or ECI, is calling on the European Parliament to take
a stand for Israel.
The ECI wants
the European Union to support Israel’s right to defend itself—and the Jewish
people—against Iran using all means necessary if diplomacy fails, if sanctions
don’t work, if nothing else works, and if Iran is about to get nuclear weapons.
ECI
Director Tomas Sandell issued
the call on Thursday during a joint session of the European Parliament
delegation to the Knesset and its Knesset counterpart.
“There is a
new Hitler rising. He lives in Iran, and he speaks Farsi,” Sandell said. “His
objectives are the same as Hitler’s, to kill 6 million Jews. History will not
forgive us if we fail to stop him in time.”
A nuclear threat
from Iran was one of the main topics during a two-day visit of the Israeli
Knesset delegation to the EU under the chairmanship of Kadima
MK Nachman Shai. In his speech, Shai assured the Members
of European Parliament that good relations with Europe are vital for
Israel. Shai wants to see more, not less, cooperation, and asked the EU to lift
any restrictions to closer cooperation with Israel.
As it stands,
the EU will only ratify a promised trade agreement upgrade with Israel on the
condition that there is a breakthrough in the Middle East peace process.
According to the ECI, many MEPs have asked for the upgraded agreement to be
implemented regardless so that Israel is not punished if the Palestinians do
not enter negotiations. However, European Commission
Director Tomas Dupla del Moral defended the official EU view. His speech
demanded “a complete freeze of all Israeli settlements.”
The Israeli
members of the Knesset delegation pointed out that no progress was made during
the 10 months during which the freeze was in place and that building new
settlements has never before hindered negotiations.
“Building new
homes can hardly be the biggest challenge to peace,” Sandell said. “A final
settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians needs to be based on
historical facts and international law. This means that we cannot accept
historical falsifications and distortions of truth like the recent decision by UNESCO to classify Rachel’s tomb as a mosque.”
As Sandell sees
it, any peace agreement needs to be based on the legal rights of Israel as
codified in international law by the Supreme Council of the
Allied Powers in San Remo in 1920. The International legal framework
of the San Remo resolution, the Mandate for Palestine and
the Treaty of Lausanne comprises the original foundation of the Jewish
people’s rights under international law.
“There can be no
unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state but only a negotiated solution
between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Sandell stressed. “The EU needs to
stay committed to this principle and can under no circumstances impose or
threat to impose a forced solution or a unilateral declaration.”
Cheri Fuller and Cindy Lamb Curry 
Marilyn Hickey 
Charisma Staff 
