EU: Solving Israeli-Palestinian conflict "top priority"
EU News, Report, 31 March 2004
Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, told the European Parliament today that the fight against terrorism must include efforts to find a solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. "The success of our strategy to combat international terrorism depends on peace in the Middle East," Prodi said. He warned that force alone would not defeat terrorism. "Governments must forge a political strategy to understand and resolve the underlying causes of terrorism," he said. [MORE]

EU won't recognize any change to pre-1967 borders
EU News, Report, 26 March 2004
The European Union warned Israel today they will not recognize any change in the pre-1967 borders made unilaterally or resulting from the construction of the Separation Barrier. Leaders of the European Union met in Brussels on 25 and 26 March. The Council expressed its deep concern at the situation in the Middle East and the deepening of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, following in particular the extra-judicial killing of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The Council stated: "The European Union will not recognise any change to the pre-1967 borders other than those arrived at by agreement between the parties." [MORE]

It's worse than you thought: pro-Israel influence on US policy
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 15 March 2004
In the early weeks of the invasion of Iraq, when the US thrust toward Baghdad appeared to be meeting more resistance than expected, an awful row broke out in Washington over the role of pro-Israel groups and individuals in dragging the country to war. Increasing media examination of the roles of key neoconservative figures associated with Likudnik groups gave rise to a backlash that sought to tar anyone who dared raise questions with anti-Semitism. But a an expose by a lieutenant colonel in the US Air Force who recently retired from the Pentagon, reveals that the influence of such groups was direct, organized and effective. EI's Ali Abunimah explains. [MORE]

Israel’s cry of anti-Semitism blocks a critical dialogue
Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof, The Electronic Intifada, 27 February 2004
Much of the rising anti-Semitism in Europe today is undeniably fuelled by conflicts in the Middle East. However, continued insistence on the part of the Israeli government and its supporters that critics of its policies are “anti-Semitic” is a dangerous and damaging position to hold. Human rights advocates Jeff Handmaker and Adri Nieuwhof argue that continued insistence on this equation of anti-Israeli government sentiments and anti-Semitism creates a hostile atmosphere and prevents a critical dialogue on Middle East issues from a human rights perspective. [MORE]

Deetman responds to Israeli anger over protests in The Hague
Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic Intifada, 23 February 2004
Today, the Mayor of The Hague, Wim Deetman, issued a press statement this morning. Deetman was "unpleasantly surprised" by the intention of the Dutch Zionist organization "Christenen voor Israel" to carry photographs which, whether rightly or wrongly were capable of "engendering emotions of a provocative nature," during a demonstration march. In doing so, Deetman added only the factual, undisputed information that he had been informed by "Christenen voor Israel", amongst others, that the Israeli Embassy in The Hague had "inspired" them to carry those photographs. [MORE]

Israel angry at mayor of The Hague
Arjan El Fassed, The Electronic Intifada, 22 February 2004
The mayor of The Hague, Wim Deetman, said on Dutch TV that the Israeli embassy in The Hague is contradicting his responsibility to maintain public order during the oral hearings of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the wall this week. The Israeli embassy has been coordinating protests and provided the pictures of 927 Israeli victims of suicide bombings to the Zionist-Christian organizations “Christenen voor Israel”. Deetman has argued that the provocative use of pictures will disrupt public order. The Israeli Foreign Ministry immediately issued a statement against the mayor. [MORE]

Anti-Semitism at the World Social Forum?
Cecilie Surasky, The Electronic Intifada, 19 February 2004
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has cited the WSF as one of the centers of what it and others refer to as the "new anti-Semitism". Their description of the WSF is so disturbing, even frightening, that I am prepared to encounter at minimum silent hostility, and possibly even physical attacks from my fellow attendees. I have come to the WSF to be loudly and visibly Jewish, to make a presentation that deconstructs the theory that Jews dictate U.S. policy in the Middle East, and to see for myself this purported new tidal wave of hatred of Jews from the rest of the global left. Cecilie Surasky reports what she discovered. [MORE]