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The Lisbon Treaty is no friend of Palestine
galway |
rights, freedoms and repression |
news report
Monday May 26, 2008 15:01 by TD - Free Palestine Campaign
![Report this post to the editors Report this post to the editors](../graphics/report.gif)
The Treaty : "An incomprehensible maze by design" (Cathy Sinnott)
For the past two weeks the focus of the Free Palestine Campaign group in Galway has been harvesting signatures for our petition calling on the EU (and the Irish government to work towards effecting it) to suspend or terminate the Euro-Med Agreement, which economically privileges Israel with access to the EU market, due to that country's gross and willful trampling of Palestinian human rights, International Law, Geneva Conventions and Part 2 of the Agreement .
When it comes to Palestine, the moral rot of the EU in refusing to suspend the Agreement does'nt stop there, it's deep and pernicious and with the passing of the Lisbon Treaty will deleteriously effect and infect Palestine further?.
![Click on image to see full-sized version Michael D. being interviewed for a forthcoming Indymedia posting](../cache/imagecache/local/attachments/may2008/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_niallmccann1.jpg) Michael D. being interviewed for a forthcoming Indymedia posting Besides bolstering the economy and legitimising the criminality of a rogue state, the EU has further priviledged Israel with a veto over the opening of the international crossing at Rafah from Gaza into Egypt : "The EU, which has provided a small force (EU BAM Rafah) to monitor the operation of the crossing, has consistently refused to send its personnel to open the crossing when Israel doesn’t want it open. The EU BAM website states that the crossing “can only be opened by agreement between the Parties”, in other words, the EU accords Israel a veto over its opening - this is in flat contradiction to the promise made by (EU honcho), Javier Solana, that the crossing is “not controlled by the Israelis'”.
http://cosmos.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/ipsc/displayRe...ID=74
With the unholy alliance of the EU, Israel and the US now punishing the Palestinians for democratically electing Hamas to political power, Gaza is the concentration camp, the West Bank the open prison where: "The obliteration of an entire people by slow systematic methods of suffocation, outright murder and the stifling of everyday life" (Edward Said) is happening.
If this is how the EU is behaving now, what will its form be towards Palestine and the World, if and when the self-amending and self-serving Lisbon Treaty is passed?. "One of the more disturbing aspects of the Lisbon Treaty is the way it creates new openings for involvement in military adventures. The Treaty would increase the militarisation of the EU, as all states would have to increase their military spending. The Treaty commits the EU to working with US dominated NATO and therefore closely ties Europe to US foreign policy." The Lisbon Treaty also gives the EU the power ‘to fight terrorism, including supporting third countries in combating terrorism," with the Foreign Secretary; David Miliband, of a country that criminally attacked a country five years ago and allowed Israel to devastate Lebanon two years ago as the proposed EU foreign minister, it's no quantum leap into febrile surmise that the "third country" will be Israel and the "terrorists" will be Hamas, Hezbollah or any group opposing its imperial hubris.?
![Click on image to see full-sized version Anna, a stalwart of of the Free Palestine Campaign and baby Aurelie](../cache/imagecache/local/attachments/may2008/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_niallmccann2.jpg) Anna, a stalwart of of the Free Palestine Campaign and baby Aurelie
![Click on image to see full-sized version Galway City Councillor and strong friend of Palestine, Niall O'Brolchain (Green Party)](../cache/imagecache/local/attachments/may2008/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_niallmccann3.jpg) Galway City Councillor and strong friend of Palestine, Niall O'Brolchain (Green Party)
![Click on image to see full-sized version Another stalwart; Yousuf](../cache/imagecache/local/attachments/may2008/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_niallmccann4.jpg) Another stalwart; Yousuf
![Click on image to see full-sized version niallmccann5.jpg](../cache/imagecache/local/attachments/may2008/460_0___30_0_0_0_0_0_niallmccann5.jpg)
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22“The Lisbon Treaty is no friend of Palestine”
This is a disingenuous, meaningless and dishonest statement as the Lisbon Treaty has nothing to do with the Palestine issue nor can it because it is concerned with utterly different topics. Therefore the treaty is no enemy of the Palestinians either. It does not affect them but it would affect Ireland adversely if it were rejected. Suffice to say there is nothing in the Treaty which will adversely affect the large scale aid and assistance which flows to the PA and necessitous Palestinians from EU community funds and programmes.
Incidentally Michael D. Higgins who features prominently on this thread supports the Treaty. That such a zealous defender of the Palestinians has a positive position on the Treaty speaks volumes.
As is his usual tactic, our septic opponent, tries one more time to deflect any argument that may impinge on his beloved sacred cows.
He says the Lisbon Treaty "has nothing to do with the Palestine issue nor can it because it is concerned with utterly different topics" and refers to the top argument as " disingenuous, meaningless and dishonest "!
Question 1: What significance and impact will the Lisbon Treaty have on Irish Foreign policy? Particularly as if ratified [ a very long shot!!] it will create an EU Foreign Minister - the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy as he/she will be called. Now if Barozo (as the Independent calls him today) is chosen. Is it true or not that Ireland could be represented internationally by an EU Foreign Minister whose politics we did not agree with and who will not be answerable neither to the Dail nor to the people? I wonder what MichaelD thinks about that possibility.
Question 2: Septic has obviously not have heard of the Euro-Med Agreement and the loud silence or what I call complicity of the Irish Government in supporting Israel despite the clear sections of Euro-Med that state the EU would not continue its support if Israel commits human rights abuses - indeed war crimes! What effect would Lisbon have on our capacity to say anything let alone oppose what the EU is doing? And those crimes and abuses don't effect or have nothing to do with Lisbon? MichaelD, my good and respected friend, if you're reading this, tell septic where to get off!
Septic is neither dishonest nor meaningless! He is an honest apologist of imperialism [see his drivel about Shannon] and a meaningful proponent of all that is corrupt, sordid and anti-people in Irish politics.
Wait now until he realizes we will be mobilising against the Bush visit into the 6 Counties (June 16th btw) and see the stuff he will come up with.
A self-amending Treaty skulking behind the mask of a rejected Constitution and which, out of a population of some 500 million, is only being presented for approval or rejection to some 4 million (and that only as a result of the Crotty case) lays bare the grossly undemocratic nature and ugly face of the EU and copper fastens the contempt of the EU for democracy and, previously, the election in which Hamas was empowered fairly and freely and is a harbinger, I would say, for worse to follow, as regards the "little people" of Europe and Palestine.?
Palestine, per se, is'nt mentioned in the Treaty, but the intentions of the EU are set out; from what can only be described as militarism, the facilitation of unfettered capitalism, the erosion of workers rights, enforced privatization of Health and Education and no doubt, in the future, in tone with this pus-bag of negativity a foreign policy more brutal than the present one of spineless collusion with Israel and the US that surely will be visited on beleaguered Palestine?.
Despite the lamentable presence of his party in the Yes camp and the consequent dimming of his bona fides, Michael D. is still a strong friend of Palestine.
The European Union is the largest source of financial aid to Palestine. The UN is the largest source of military (peace-keeping) assistance. There is a slim possibility that an Irish Yes will increase aid to Palestine through the combined peace-keeping force because the Irish army is an enthusiastic participant, but a very, very small partner. A Yes vote will also advertise Ireland's role model position as one of the highest per-capita aid donor nations within Europe.
All in all the Lisbon referendum makes no difference to Palestine. But if the Irish people wish to continue their association with EU and UN support for Palestine in a very hostile world then a Yes vote would affirm the Irish position as a friend of Palestine.
MichaelY, happy to report there was a further outbreak of "disingenuousness, meaninglessness and dishonesty" and indeed "anti-Semitism" in Shop Street, Galway today and, to boot, there is another one planned for this coming Saturday.
The peak experience of the day was the gracious presence of Dr. Noam Lubell, the Israeli lecturer in the Irish Center for Human Rights in Galway University http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/Staff/noam_lubell.html who gave a filmed interview to a student at the NUIG Huston School for Film, Niall McCann.
"The UN is the largest source of military (peace-keeping) assistance" (to Palestine) : Afraid not, as the Israelis refuse point blank to accept any UN peace-keeping force - they are over the border, though, in southern Lebanon as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
"The European Union is the largest source of financial aid to Palestine" : Once the Palestinians elected Hamas to political power in early 2006, the EU used its financial aid to punish Palestine for voting the "wrong way". The EU aid is cosmetic and hypocritical, if it were serious in balming the agony of Palestine and resolving the impasse in a just and permanent way, to mention just a few positive initiatives, it would at least suspend or terminate the Euro-Med Agreement, spearhead a sanctions campaign against Israel, quit its collusion with that rogue state at the Rafah crossing and through France and the UK force the issue and confront the US at the UN Security Council. Stuart, It seems to have escaped your naive, trusting attention that the Lisbon Treaty is a catalyst and empowers the EU to mutate into something deeply undemocratic, militarist and capitalist, as such, based on the past and present policy of the EU towards Israel the auspices are not good for beleaguered Palestine, not good at all?.
Dr. Noam Lubell: Lecturer at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway
Medical exams completed, these students are heading back to Malaysia for the summer break, shortly
Kieran
Mark
"Once the Palestinians elected Hamas to political power in early 2006, the EU used its financial aid to punish Palestine for voting the "wrong way"."
This is entirely false and defamatory. The EU institutions are obliged by statute to ensure that aid (which is ultimately sourced on funds from taxpayers in Member States) will not be used for wrongful purposes. In this case the incoming Hamas administration would not provide assurances that community funds would not be channeled to terrorists or for terrorist purposes and the aid was suspended pending resolution of the situation. This affected direct aid to Hamas in the Gaza Strip only. The bulk of aid goes to the PA in the West Bank and this aid was entirely unaffected. Aid for humanitarian purposes included paying the salaries of teachers was unaffected even in Gaza.
Only the Member State governments could relax the conditions such that EU aid could flow to Hamas without condition or assurances as to the use to which it would be put. Otherwise the Commission's auditors could not release the funds.
Whatever might have escaped my naive, trusting attention has nothing whatsoever to do with fallacious links between Palestine and Ireland's referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
Apart from the rag-tag army of anti-abortionists, right-wing extremists, "family"-value Catholics, nationalists, racists and single-issue obsessionals proposing a protest No vote, the single biggest No lobby (and all of the No funding) is the globalised collective of weapons dealers and pro-American empire builders running the war on Islam.
I would prefer Ireland's leadership on Palestinian policy to be heard within the European framework because it is an insignificant voice outside it.
Its disingenuous scaremogering to even insinuate that we will be "outside Europe" at any stage in the future for any reason. A No vote will leave us in the exact same position to deliver our mesage to Europe as we are in now.
A Yes vote will be the one thing that can compromise and weaken our abilty to have our speak in European policy matters such as the sordid EU Foreign Policy towards the Palestinian people who exist under the Israeli shadow of terror.
The money that goes to Palestine at this point from Europe goes to Fatah and the PA, the very group of cronies that the Poor people tried to oust with their democratic vote. Our "support" to Palestine under current foreign policy of Europe is the enrichment of the coffers of the collaborators in Palestines woes and an unfettered support and assistance to the Gaza siege in Europe's refusal to help open the Rafah border. A Yes Vote will remove any abilty we have to reject this scandalous approach to a civilian population in the throes of continuous Israeli state terror crying for our pity.
A No Vote secures our current standing in Europe completely and cannot undermine us in any way. France and Holland utterly rejected this pile of tripe and they are in no different position nor would they tolerate being told they were. We will be the exact same after we Vote No to this bloody thing.
We need to retain our current standing.
Disingenuous scaremongering is exactly what is being perpetrated by campaigners who demand we "Vote No to this bloody thing" without mustering one single, cogent, factual argument to support their position. The reference to Palestine is a dishonourable abuse of a highly significant unrelated issue - just like the references to abortion, immigration, family status, minimum wages and other falsehoods used by a range of No campaigners.
A Yes vote will have no detrimental impact on Ireland's ability to support the Palestinian people, but will most certainly undermine Ireland's voice within Europe.
Undermine Ireland's voice ? Where O where are you getting that crap from. How will it undermine Irelands voice ? How has it undermined Frances and Holland's voice when they rejected it. If we accept it on everybody's behalf then WE wil have undermined the French and the Dutch Voices which both said NO !
We will reinforce the democratic principal excercised in those two countries by refusing to force it on them now. Or do you think that it is democratic for a million and a half to determine the future of half a billion ?
We reject it, nothing changes, life and Europe and Ireland go on. And we will not be tied into some common security policy or foreign policy where we will be forced to nod our heads agreeingly to the bastards in Europe who are helping to starve out the Palestinians.
Please point out the precise clauses of the Lisbon Treaty that relate, IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER, to a "common security policy or foreign policy where we will be forced to nod our heads agreeingly to the bastards in Europe who are helping to starve out the Palestinians". (Big hint: there is no clause to support your claims).
It is yet another example of some dubious No campaigners picking a completely irrelevant issue, in which they quite possibly have no interest, in order to make entirely false claims about the consequences of the Irish referendum. The consequences of the Irish vote will impact on the residents of Ireland and have virtually no impact elsewhere in Europe, let alone internationally.
The largest lobby for a No vote (and all the campaign funding and resources) come from warmongers and supporters of the War on Islam in the United States, Austria, Britain and Israel - people who favour the continued transport of troops and weapons through Shannon, who have no interest in any further examination of Ireland's role in the extraordinary rendition of terrorist suspects for torture, and who want to delay any possible EU policing or peacekeeping interference in the US and UN Security Council policies that are, as you put it yourself, starving out the Palestinians.
This is entirely false and defamatory. The EU institutions are obliged by statute to ensure that aid (which is ultimately sourced on funds from taxpayers in Member States) will not be used for wrongful purposes. In this case the incoming Hamas administration would not provide assurances that community funds would not be channeled to terrorists or for terrorist purposes and the aid was suspended pending resolution of the situation. This affected direct aid to Hamas in the Gaza Strip only. The bulk of aid goes to the PA in the West Bank and this aid was entirely unaffected. Aid for humanitarian purposes included paying the salaries of teachers was unaffected even in Gaza.
Only the Member State governments could relax the conditions such that EU aid could flow to Hamas without condition or assurances as to the use to which it would be put. Otherwise the Commission's auditors could not release the funds.
Utter tripe. Hamas were democratically elected by a very solid majority. Part of the reason for their popularity was precisely because the Palestinian Authority was so corrupt and failing horribly to deliver welfare to the Palestinians. Frustrated by the PA's failure and in the face of appalling neglect, Hamas had steppend into the breach and many people had seen real improvements in their living conditions and services because of it. That is why they were elected - because they were NOT corrupt - as the Fatah PA had been. It's complete rubbish to pretend that the EU had any genuine doubts about Hamas when it had turned a blind eye to the US-EU compliant PA for years beforehand.
The Palestinians were indeed viciously punished - and continue to be - for voting the 'wrong' way.
I am not distorting anything Miriam – I am merely explaining the reason why money from community funds was withheld from the Hamas administration in Gaza whilst it was not from the larger Fattah controlled West Bank area. It is not to do with any bias against the Palestinians on the part of the European Community. I was not myself making a value judgement or comparison of Hamas and Fattah or their respective bona fides. I think it is important however to point out the following:
• Very large quantams of aid have and are continuing to flow to Palestinian recipients from various EU programmes. This aid is purely philanthropic and designed to assist in a trouble region which is outside Europe. The EU is the biggest source of aid to the Palestinians by a mile. Without it they would have almost nothing.
• It is not relevant that Hamas was elected in Gaza. What matters is how any administration, elected or not, behaves with monies it gets and the uses to which they are put. The European community institutions have a fiduciary duty to the taxpayers and national administrations to account for the aid they disburse and that it would not be applied for improper purposes – least of all for terrorism which is an anathema to what the European project stands for. The Europe Union is about peaceful co-existence and cooperation among neighbours. It cannot turn a blind eye to how funds it disburses are spent. It is obliged to do good, not harm.
• You are shill for Palestinian causes, specifically promoting Hamas. Fair enough but you don’t have the responsibility for European pubic funds that the EU institutions have. They have a job to do and a duty of care and it sometimes involves difficult choices. You should make some effort to understand the position they are in as conscientious and accountable public servants and elected office holders themselves.
• There is nothing to stop European governments or private individuals or groups making donations to Hamas if the wish. That they don’t do so in any measure is because they have a similar analysis of the situations that the European Community leaders has. Neither Europe nor the UN has imposed sanctions on aid to Hamas so far as I am aware. There is also nothing to stop Arab governments, flush with cash and much closer to the situation in every way than the Europeans are, from granting large scale aid to Hamas. But they don’t both because they are frightened of Hamas and its links to Iran which is their main backer in terms of arms, ideology etc.
Don’t blame the EU for coming to the same conclusion as the rest of Europe and the Arab world about Hamas! That would be unjust and irrational.
Sceptic,
The fact that you so casually shrug off Palestinian democracy is telling to say the least. That you so clinically dismiss Hamas' right to receive funding for its electorate but see no problem in Fatah receiveing large bags of cash when we all know that they were employed directly by the US and Israel to instigate mayhem in Palestinian Society. Destruction and violence was their daily duties and it was all funded and backed by your buddies the NeoCons and the Israeli fascists.
But Hamas wont jump through your little doplomatic hoop so one and a half million Gazans can starve as far as you are concerned. they dont even seem to register with you.
How utterly miserable of you to sit on such a pile of human pain and pontificate as though we are idiots.Even Vanity Fair readers have outpaced you by a mile and they dont have the Hubris to come on here and claim that Fatah supporters should starve and die.
Philip
I am not dismissing Palestinian democracy and nor is the EU. On Palestinian democracy Fattah is in fact the majority representative party in the equation – Hamas a regional minority one confined to the strip. The international community does in fact recognize the Hamas elected position in Gaza and their role – that is not the issue. The issue is unconditional funding of Hamas as is advocated here. I have no brief for Fattah – it might well be corrupt and have its failings but by the same token as Hamas it has its electoral mandate – one that is more substantial than that of Hamas.
You are wrong to refer to a Hamas “right” to funding – Hamas do not have a claim to EU funding. Very substantial aid is granted to the Palestinians but in no way have the European Community bodies have a legal obligation to aid Hamas unconditionally. The funding is discretionary and is given for humanitarian reasons as well as for stabilization, building civil society and the promotion of peaceful means of resolving differences. The donors of aid have a legitimate say in how it ought to be used particularly as it is other peoples money and they are fully accountable for how it is used.
The funding suspended is not humanitarian aid – aid is not being withheld from the Hamas electorate as such – primarily the EU is declining to fund the payroll of the Hamas security forces until assurances are received about what they will be doing. Talk about starving people is nonsense in this context. The EU helps the situation – not makes it worse. At least the EU is giving substantial aid to the Palestinians yet you stridently condemn them because it is not unconditional. Yet you don’t have a bad word to say about all the Governments including the Arab ones who give little or no aid. Palestine is an Arabian issue in the final analysis not a European one. But it is telling that the Arab states have no great love for Hamas either. They perceive it as islamist and a proxy of Tehran which is designed to destabilize. Hamas being elected in the strip is not mutually exclusive with this analysis.
Writing about the EU as though it was squeaky clean is completely unrealistic.
The reality is that the EU is awash with corruption which has got so far out of control that many of those who work there now believe it's unstoppable.
Consequently what the EU should be doing (in theory), and what it's actually doing (in practice), are two completely different things: just as fantasy and reality are two completely different things.
For some evidence of corruption in the EU please see: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=EU+Corruption&btnG...earch
There have been cases of wrong doing uncovered in the EU bodies. It’s far from a secret but the bulk of the problem is fraudulent claims for farming output and the like that is that the EU is victimized itself. There are measures in place to deal with fraud, protection of whistle blowers and oversight by the EP to mention . Indeed the Commission resigned in 1999 and was reformed some time later. But putting it about that the institutions are very corrupt etc is just smearing based on little evidence. Besides I never wrote that all is "squeaky clean" and even if its not totally free of fraud (how could it be realistically) that does not invalidate the explanation I gave as to why certain payments were suspended. Are you challenging my explanation and if so on what grounds?
I'm challenging the fact that you appear to be in denial -- or pretending to be in denial perhaps (for reasons best known to yourself) -- regarding the rampant corruption which is at present taking place in the European Union.
How, for example, do you explain the situation outlined by Ashley Mote MEP at the location below?
http://www.ashleymote.co.uk/viewvideo.php?sec=view&vide...id=43
You may also wish to explain the Telegraph report at (at http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/politics/danielhannan/nov0...d.htm ), part of which reads as follows:
"Tillack began to expose some of the more egregious corruption cases, such as the story of how several EU officials had taken advantage of the poor accounting system to divert millions of euros into private accounts."
The telegraph is always producing knocking copy about the EU one of its missions in life. I suspect it’s the only bit of Telegraph coverage you like. That said if there are any wrongdoing uncovered in the EU institutions or anywhere else they should be investigated, the guilty punished and systems reviewed to prevent a re occurrence. Human institutions will always have failings – that does not mean the idea of the institution itself or its pro grammes have to be thrown overboard entirely. To take one example recently UN peacekeepers have been documented as being involved in widespread child sex abuse in Africa – a much worse thing by any standards. That does not mean the whole UNO is corrupt or that all it does is wrong or that it needs to be destroyed or that its high level design making has been compromised.
In any case none of this invalidates the high level decisions in the institutions concerning Hamas or has anything to do with it.
Sceptic
If I am wrong then give me some facts which substatiate your claim. The continuous one-sided conterfactual drivel you are seeping onto the page is an insult to open debate.
Here is your array of propaganda reprinted and I have dealt with your outrageous nonsense, now substitued by the actual facts.
You are dismissing Palestinian democracy as is the EU. On Palestinian democracy Fattah is in fact Not the majority representative party in the equation. Hamas has the national majority but is confined to the strip so that Fatah can carry on with the illusion of office. The international community does in fact not recognize the Hamas elected position in Palestine and their role as the elected majority government. The issue is not unconditional funding of Hamas as is not advocated here. You have no clue about Fattah it is corrupt and has its failings among them instigating a coup to overthrow Hamas at the behest and funding of Bush. They failed miserably and ran out of Gaza and now cant go back bacause America wont let them talk unity with Hamas. But they do by the same token as Hamas have an electoral mandate one that is less substantial than that of Hamas.
I am right to refer to Hamas "right" to receive funding for it's people as the funding is being sent to benefit the Palestinian people, a majority of which are represented by Hamas. The funding is for the people and all the people have a right to receive an equal opportunity from that funding , not just the ones who voted for the party chosen by the Americans, your chosen party, Fatah.
The Palestinians are being subject to a blockade which is causing malnutrition in Palestinian society.Malnutrition, Anemia and disease.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r82kyhFf6kg&feature=related
This is not an Arab issue so much as a European issue as historically France and England have almost total responsibility in the geopolicital formation of the Middle East since 90 years past and it is now a Western policy to remain steadfastly in support of the siege against the Palestinians. Europe DOES have a responsibility to Palestine as the member states are high contracting parties to the Geneva Convention which strictly forbids this type of Mass Punishment and imprisonment and terrorisation of the occupied people of Palestine. The GC obliges these countries to act to stop Israel in its actions.
But they dont, they support it.
These are the facts, you are utterly counterfactual in everything you claim. you should not be commenting on issues that you are completely ignorant of and only wish to add confusion to.
I do not believe Hamas has a 'right' to funding. As far as I am aware, funding is designated to increase stability and help the populace. In the eyes of the EU, Hamas is simply an elected terrorist organisation, which vehemently supports the destruction of Israel (and not by political means). I would not be sure, nor can the EU that funds given to them will solely be used for humanitarian uses.
The EU, however, absolutely has the 'right' to decide where the money goes.
"it is now a Western policy to remain steadfastly in support of the siege against the Palestinians"
I think this is stretching it a bit far. I am sure that Western powers are lenient on Israel, but to say that they steadfastly support a siege is, in my opinion, incorrect.
Hi Philip, More power to you! You are 100% correct.Sceptic does not have a clue what he is talking about and neither Mr Man------who does not believe Hamas has a "right" to funding! But I am sure he is adamant Israel is entitled to the Billions from US every year!! Where is the balance here?
Israel has 250 nuclear warheads for Gods sake, yet those two idiots are only worried about "Hamas terrorism" Why are the Palestinians and the Arabs always regarded as the "Terrorists" despite the State terror of those two countries namely US and Israel??
Israel is involved in horrific state terror on a daily basis in Palestine destroying lives and may I add EU built infrastructure!
How convenient of the EU to turn a blind eye to this destruction and waste of "taxpapers money from member states"
Hamas are the elected representatives of all of Palestine yet the EU are refusing to recognize them because the US orders them so.In fact all the Hamas leaders and followers living in the West-Bank have been either killed or thrown into prison. There are more than 11,000 Palestinians in Israeili prisons, all of whom have never stood trial in a court of law!!
Arab countries would gladly come to the aid of Palestine but sadly the US again has their leaders by the short and curlies and they dare not speak out.
Israel is swallowing up Palestine by the hour and there is no voice for Palestine in the so called free world.
So Sceptic and Mr Man shut up your utter rubbish and go and visit Gaza and visit West-Bank, sure if your friends of Israel
you will be given safe travel. Indeed visit Israel while your at it and see for yourself the apartheid. Go and educate yourselves on the Middle East subject then you may be able to discuss and debate how peace can reign in the Holy Land.
You will also understand why I believe the EU leaders have Palestinian blood on their hands, and why we should not give them any more power, therfore we must vote NO TO LISBON.