Meaningless EU Criticism of Israel

by Stephen Lendman

Decades of critical Security Council and General Assembly resolutions did nothing to deter Israeli ruthlessness. War without mercy rages on defenseless Palestinians, an entire population at risk.

Peace is pure fantasy, democracy nonexistent. Settlement expansion continues unabated on stolen Palestinian land. Longstanding ethnic cleansing facilitates it. 

A unanimously adopted critical EU resolution was meaningless without teeth, saying in part:

Its member states "unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967. This does not constitute a boycott of Israel, which the EU strongly opposes."

"The EU will continue to closely monitor developments on the ground and their broader implications and will consider further action in order to protect the viability of the two-state solution, which is constantly eroded by new facts on the ground."

It expressed deep concern about daily violence while failing to intervene responsibly to stop it, applying no pressure on Netanyahu's fascist regime, affording him free rein to rampage unaccountably, extrajudicially executing Palestinians.

EU nations criticize Israeli settlement expansion rhetorically only, calling for a "fundamental change of policy," doing nothing to force it.

Nearly half a century of illegal settlement construction on stolen Palestinian land was ignored, Israel consistently rewarded, EU nations partnering in its high crimes.

Calling settlements "illegal under international law…an obstacle to peace, and (threat) to a two-state solution" belies longstanding EU policy.

Saying member states "will continue to closely monitor developments on the ground and their broader implications and will consider further action" substitutes for meaningful action.

Last November's guidelines for labeling settlement products was a weak-kneed slap on the wrist, stopping short of banning them altogether. 

US, UK and French Security Council veto power prevents holding Israel accountable for high crimes against peace. Nothing is being done to stop its rampaging - daily state terror, extrajudicial killings, collectively punishing an entire population, committing slow-motion genocide.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders' warning against putting the (automatically dead on arrival) peace process on the back burner, along with expressing "concern about the situation in the Middle East" conceals EU complicity with Washington in transforming it into a raging cauldron of violence, instability and chaos.

In mid-January, Netanyahu claimed "a natural tendency in the EU establishment to single out Israel and treat it in ways that other countries are not being dealt with…"

He called for a "reset" in bilateral relations, wants rhetorical criticism (without teeth) halted - consistently blames Palestinians for his high crimes.

Washington and EU nations do nothing to deter them, letting Israel get away with mass murder.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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