In a diplomatic letter sent to the Foreign Ministry and the Knesset , the European Union countries said that they will not take part in the celebrations marking the 40-year anniversary of Jerusalem’s reunification. US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones has also declined an invitation to participate. Therefore, if the EU decision is upheld, not a single European ambassador, nor the American ambassador are expected to show up for Jerusalem Day festivities at the Knesset on Wednesday. Despite the announcement, however, it is rumored that some EU ambassadors may violate the boycott and take part.
European countries do not recognize Jerusalem’s reunification. As far as they are concerned, east Jerusalem, which was occupied during the Six Day War, is an occupied territory.
Among the EU countries there is a difference of opinion regarding the participation in the Jerusalem Day celebrations. Germany decided to send the letter to the official bodies in Israel, but a number of EU countries are considering violating the boycott and taking part in the celebrations.
The Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors were also invited to take part in the events, and Foreign Ministry officials expressed their concern over the possibility that they would also fail to show up.
Sources in the Foreign Ministry noted that diplomatic moves were taken in a bid to prevent the European boycott. The ministry’s spokesperson said that “Jerusalem is Israel’s united capital. This week we will mark 40 years of reunification. Many guests were invited to take part in the events, including diplomats. We expect them to attend.”
Michael
Most Americans do not support the whole sale slaughter of 4.5 million Jews. Most Americans do not realize the stakes involved with Iraq and elsewhere within the GWOT. With that said most Americans are apathetic because they do not understand the stakes.
The Holy Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments promise us that God has a special desitny for his people, Israel. As such, they will never be exterminated. Unfortunately their is no such promises regarding the United States. We either get this now and we fight to win or we get it and begin fighting to win after one or more of our major cities have been reduced to radio active dust. Unfortunately by the time this happens, it may be to late to defeat this enemy.
Btw, apparently Arab Sunni states may be wanting the US to pressure Israel so they will help the US exit Iraq with some dignity. If this is so, this is very fool hardy on the part of the Sunni states. Iran poses an existential threat to them as well. They need to join with Israel and the US to deal with this. Their seeming unwillingness to do so may be a case of them hating America and Israel more than they like own survival.
George Bush senior promised to deliver Israel to the Arabs as part of his bogus “Coalition” during the Gulf War. Clinton did a good job of continuing the filthy legacy of Bush by dropping 60,000 Tunisians into Judea and Samaria. “Bush the Tembel” with the support of most Americans, is determined to destroy Israel and kill off 4 1/2 million Israeli Jews ASAP.
I am now waiting for the inevitable “Who’d have known…”, “We never realised…” and, “We tried our best…”
The best face saving way to exit Iraq is with a victory. If this is not going to happen, it is unethical to pressure Israel to make concessions so that America can get out of Iraq in a face saving way. It is also unethical for Israeli leaders to cave to pressure from America or anyone else.
Israel had no role in America’s decison to depose Saddam Hussein, nor did Israel have any role in planning the operation to depose Hussein, furthermore, Israel had no say in how the post removal of the Baathist was conducted. It would be wrong of the US to pressure Israel into concessions because of a mistake the US and its coalition partners made.
On the one hand I can understand why the State Departmenr would be frightened at upsetting the Arabs, the American military is in no shape to take on the entire Arab world. In order to do this, America needs to vastly increase the size and strength of its armed forces. Again, the best way to exit and save face is to exit with a victory. We should raise the necessary military forces to get this done. I pray we will soon have the leaders with the courage to do this.
I think the biggest mistake the Americans and our allies made was to launch a “war on terror” that called for a “Palestinian” state. A legitimate question is, “how do you fight Islamic terrorism while seeking to create an Islamic terrorist state of “Palestine?” Not only have the US and its allies sought to create this terrorist state but they sought to carve it out of the land of their most important ally!!
I hope this is a case of stupidty rather than hating Israel more than they like their own survival. If they have simply been stupid, there is hope that they can learn. If this is a case of anti-semitisim, it is going to be more difficult to overcome. These are very perilous times. Much prayer is needed for all of our leaders.
Bill and Ted,
From the beginning, America has fought this war not to lose rather than fighting it to win. As anyone who has ever played a sport knows, you cannot win if you are playing not to lose. You will lose every time. Wars should be fought to win. If we are not going to fight to win, we should rename the country “Amrabia” and place the Islamists and the Communists allies in charge of the nation. This will save all of the trouble of them conquering us. If we do not take this enemy on now and fight to win, we could very well be looking at “Amrabia” or whatever our enemies wish to name the country after they conquer it. I think the reason America has fought this war not to lose rather than to win is because many of our top political leaders were educated at elite universities. In these elite universities, they teach hatred of America, hatred of Western civilizaiton, and hatred of the “Zionists.” It is entirely possible that many of these people do not believe in America. As such, they will not fight vigorously for something they don’t believe in.
I say again it unethical for Israeli interests to be sacrificed so someone else can save face. A decent person cannot remain silent while this goes on. I am sending a letter to my Representative, my Senators, and to the White House. I will do my part to stand in the gap for Israel where I can. The Israeli governmnet needs to do their part and say “NO” to pressure.
Israel, I am praying for you. Please pray for America as well.
Bill
We are on the same page.
That the Bush administration has instructed US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones to decline Israel’s invitation reveals how desperate America is gain support from Arab nations to allow America to exit Iraq without losing total face in the process.
The recent proposal by C. Rice for both Israel and Palestinians to make certain concessions, neither of which concessions are interdependent or interconditional and that once again Israel’s concessions are substantive while the Palestinian sought after concessions are their worthless promises, only further underlines American desperation.
More recently the Bush administration is seeking to rein in an Israeli response to Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza and Israel appears to be relenting to U.S. demands in that regard.
This is going to be an increasingly tough time for Israel.
As America becomes more desperate to leave Iraq, the Bush administration is going to be applying that much more pressure on Israel to concede. Those concessions America demands of Israel are doubtless the price demanded by the Arab nations for any support they might give America to enable America to exit Iraq in some face saving way. That kind of face saving will be all illusory, for the world will know that America failed. That failure can be laid, not just on the shoulders of Pres. Bush. America’s predecessor leaders and the American State Department have been so frightened of upsetting the Middle Eastern Muslim world, that they are gearing all their policies to avoid negative consequences feared rather then advancing positive policies that would demonstrate American strength and will to have things the way America wants them and damn anyone who gets in the way.
Ashamed and disgusted, and it’s not even in our own national interest, since it appears to be stage-setting for what Zechariah told us would happen:
“…I will make Jerusalem a stone for all the peoples to lift; all who lift it shall injure themselves…In that day I will all but annihilate all the nations that came up against Jerusalem” (from Zechariah 12)
I expect this from Europe, but I’m completely disgusted by this response from the U.S. What is it going to take for us to realize appeasing the arab-muslim world is a recipe for disaster?