3/28/2018

PRESS RELEASE


More than 60 UN Ambassadors attend Passover Seder co-hosted by ECI at the UN


New York, March 28th, 2018 – The European Coalition for Israel and the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy arranged for a High Level Diplomatic Passover Seder to take place at the UN headquarters in New York, just three days ahead of the Jewish Feast. The pre-Passover Seder on Tuesday was co-hosted by the Israeli Permanent Mission to the UN. The speakers reminded the more than 60 UN-ambassadors and senior diplomats who attended the event of the unique set of circumstances which led to the Exodus, the liberation of the Jewish people from 400 years of slavery in Egypt and their well-documented path to freedom and self-determination in Eretz Israel - the Land of Israel.

“It was a long journey, but now you are home”, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell said in his opening remarks as he reminded the audience of the upcoming 70th anniversary of the modern State of Israel.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, explained that the Hebrew word ‘Seder’ means ‘Order’.  “At a time of upheaval around the world it is critical that we all come together and ensure that ‘order’ is kept.  As representatives of our countries, we have the responsibility to ensure that the UN is not blinded by bias and that it stands up to the Pharaohs of today who threaten freedom, peace and security", he said.

In his speech, ECI Director of UN Affairs and Co-founder of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy, Gregory Lafitte, referred to the Passover story as “the first written account of diplomacy”. “It is a story that tells about the exodus out of Egypt and the birth of a people, which led to the receiving of the Torah”, he explained.

“The Jewish insight is that freedom is not the ability to do whatever we please — that's anarchy. True freedom is to be able to relive the story, to ask questions, to know the truth, and to choose what is right. True freedom is not what we obtained at the crossing of the Red Sea, it is what we received at Sinai”, he added.

This is the third consecutive year that a Passover Seder has been held inside the UN headquarters in New York. In 2016 ECI, together with the Israeli Permanent Mission to the UN, initiated and hosted the first ever Passover Seder at the UN headquarters which was attended by some 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats. Three years later the event has grown to over 80 participants, including 60 UN ambassadors and senior diplomats from four different continents.

The diplomatic success of the event was enhanced by the fact that the Turkish Ambassador to the UN, Feridun Hadi Sinirlioğlu, also participated in this year´s ceremony, despite many years of frosty relations between Jerusalem and Ankara.

The ECI delegation consisted of Tomas Sandell, Gregory Lafitte, J. Rudolf Geigy andFaith Collins Childress. The Passover Seder was one of the many ongoing ECI activities at the United Nations in New York which since 2014 are held under the name of the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy.

1/16/2018

PRESS RELEASE


ECI seminar in London discusses pro-Israel advocacy after Brexit
- Passivity is our greatest enemy!


London, January 16th, 2018 – British government support for Israel cannot be taken for granted but needs to be renewed time and time again. It is not the enemies of Israel that pose the greatest threat to this support but rather the passivity of many pro-Israel Christians.

This was the overall message at a one-day European Coalition for Israel seminar in London on Saturday, 13th January, on the theme “Britain, Europe and Israel - after Brexit.”

While many friends of Israel had hoped for a new golden age in the support by Britain for Israel as the British government prepares to leave the European Union, many have been disappointed that British foreign policy vis-à-vis Israel has not aligned itself with the pro-Israel stance of the new US administration but rather remained consistent with the policies of the EU. Earlier in the week, UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson joined other EU-Foreign Ministers in Brussels in pleading with US President Donald Trump to keep to the Iran deal. Furthermore, on 21st December in the UN General Assembly, Britain was not to be counted as one of the 65 nations which refused to support the resolution that the UN rejects the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. On Friday, President Trump finally cancelled his planned visit to London next month, a further indication of the fact that the special relationship between the US and the UK is strained at the moment.

At the seminar, TV journalist Simon Barrett criticized the UK government for not standing up for the US President and his pro-Israel policies but instead giving in to media slander.

Former Labour MP Michael McCann said that “the UK cannot afford to jeopardise the special relationship with Washington at the same time as we are trying to get out of the EU”.

While there is discontent with the current government, according to McCann and Barrett, the alternative to the Conservative government is even worse.

Michael McCann called his former colleague Jeremy Corbyn, who is now chairman of the Labour party, “an anti-Semite who openly supports terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah”.

McCann is currently leading a British campaign to ban Hezbollah from the UK. He also criticized Prime Minister Theresa May for not being consistent in her fight against terrorism. “When Britain was struck by a terror attack last year, she promised to decisively crack down on terrorism, but when supporters of the terrorist group Hezbollah demonstrated openly on the streets of London just a few weeks later, she did not intervene”, he commented.

The one-day ECI seminar encouraged Christian believers to be more pro-active in their support for Israel by calling their political leaders to account when they act contrary to their election promises.

“Our support for Israel is just as important outside of the four walls of the church as inside them. But in order to win the battle for the minds and hearts of people we need to know the history of Israel and its legal foundations”, said ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell.

During the one-day seminar the participants were also able to hear ECI Legal CounselAndrew Tucker explain how a systematic twisting of international law today is being used by the enemies of Israel to discredit the Jewish state.

But despite the on-going international lawfare against Israel, ECI Director for UN Affairs Dr.Gregory Lafitte presented evidence on how international support for Israel is growing at the United Nations. When the Palestinians were given “non-member observer state status” at the United Nations in November 2012, 55 states objected to the decision by abstaining, or voting against, or by not being present during the vote. When the UN General Assembly voted to condemn the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel by the US on 21st December last year, ten more nations chose to oppose the resolution.

ECI Brussels Representative Ruth Isaac reminded the audience that “it is not our enemies that we need to worry about but rather the passivity and fear among many Christians who support Israel in their hearts but do not dare to express this support publicly”.

While many pro-Israel events in London have been hijacked by pro-Palestinian activists in recent years, security has become a major issue. Nevertheless, ECI decided to openly publicise the address of the venue last Saturday. According to some, this was a breach of security, but Sandell defended the decision by saying that “when we start to give in to fear in an open democracy and hide from the public we have lost the battle”.

The message from the seminar was well received by the Christian leaders who participated. British pastor and ECI-coordinator in the UK Alistair Scott concluded the seminar by stating that “although the UK is preparing for Brexit, the commitment to stand with Israel together with Christians from other parts of Europe remains rock solid”.

1/08/2018

MONTHLY REPORT - JANUARY 2018

Thank you for 2017!

Thank you for helping us close the fiscal year with a small plus on the account. Thanks to your generous support we are able to prepare for another important year ahead of us in which we will aim at broadening our support base in order to raise an even stronger voice in 2018. Together we can do it!


What a difference a year can make!

As we enter a new year it is high time to take account of the past year and look at the challenges ahead of us.

2017 may well go down in history as the year when the only remaining superpower, the USA, finally recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel on December 6th, and more nations are considering moving their embassies from Tel Aviv back to Jerusalem.

In only one year, Israel had gone from being completely isolated at the UN Security Council, which was the case at the vote on December 23rd 2016, to having 65 nations refuse to support a similar resolution on December 21st 2017. (See ECI press release).

As we began last year, 70 nations were gathering in Paris to declare Jerusalem as an occupied city, but now we have almost as many nations rejecting such a claim. What a difference a year can make!

Conventional wisdom had it that a recognition of Jerusalem at this time would open the gates of hell. No such thing happened. Instead Israel came out stronger from this declaration with some ten nations currently considering a similar recognition. A total of six EU-member states* broke ranks with Brussels at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in abstaining in the vote on the resolution against the US recognition. At the same time, EU-member states such as Denmark, Norway and Netherlands are reconsidering their funding of the PA because of serious concerns regarding the on-going financing of hate and violence.

December 6th may well go down in history as the date when something shifted in the Middle East, but the battle has only just begun. Many uncertainties still exist as the US is expected to present its new peace plan in March and we wait to see how the protests in Iran will develop. Only one thing is for sure, the Middle East is not what it used to be.


* Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania.

ECI priorities in 2018


This year will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel. It will also mark the 15th anniversary of the European Coalition for Israel. Throughout the year we will celebrate these two anniversaries as we also strengthen the foundations of our work.

Jerusalem

Since 2011 ECI has been consistently focusing on the importance of keeping Jerusalem united as the capital of the State of Israel. During last year’s 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem we were the only organization to mark this event both at the European Union in Brussels and the United Nations in New York. Many want to keep the status of Jerusalem on the negotiating table as a bargaining chip in future peace negotiations over one of the final status issues, whereas we have consistently argued that a united Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is non-negotiable. This is also the official position of the Israeli government.
After the US recognition on December 6th, our campaigning is entering an even more important phase, as the nations will now have to choose sides. In 2018 we will continue to argue the case for Jerusalem at the UN and the EU with the aim of having more nations recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel.


Legal foundation of Israel

With the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel just around the corner, the debate over the legitimacy of Israel will again intensify. Is Israel a repressive colonial power which is suppressing its indigenous population like South Africa in the past, or is Israel, as we believe, the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people which is clearly founded and recognized in international law? As the false narratives will be presented in international media again this year and the BDS movement will try to sell their apartheid state narrative to a young generation, Israel needs a solid defence based on international law and historical facts. We have played a part in providing this defence since 2010 when we rediscovered the significance of the San Remo Resolution of 1920. It was probably no coincidence that the young member of the Knesset who joined us for that event would later become the Israeli Ambassador at the UN, Danny Danon. Together we will continue to fight for Israel´s right to self-determination also in 2018.

EU funding of hate education

The Middle East conflict could perhaps have been solved many years ago if it was not for the generous European funding of the corrupt Palestinian Authority which has been investing millions in brainwashing their children into hating the Jews and inciting violence. This is the greatest obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians and one of the greatest miscalculations of the European Union as it disqualifies Europe from the role as an even-handed negotiator in the region.

The diplomatic war against Israel is today a multimillion-dollar industry funded by the EU, Western governments and private foundations, whereas friends of Israel, like ECI, do not receive financial help from any of these sources.

It is a sad fact that many international Christian institutions play a key role in this diplomatic war. In 2018 we will start calling them out by name and make them accountable to the Christian public.

In other parts of society the problems with Palestinian hate education are slowly starting to sink in. Last year countries such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark began to openly reconsider their funding of the PA


A light to the nations

As well as fighting what is wrong, we should not forget to present the positive side of the story. While the international media is clearly dominated by negative news from Israel, we want to make known how Israel is indeed becoming a “light to the nations”, through, for example, introducing new technology and innovations to benefit developing countries in Africa and providing humanitarian relief to victims from hostile countries such as Syria and Iraq. Zionism continues to impact the nations. The more the nations learn about the history of the Jewish people and their aspirations, the more likely they are to understand the necessity of standing with Israel today. In 2018 we will continue to bring this message to the European Union and the United Nations, as through these institutions we can reach all the nations in the world.

Anti-Semitism

Whenever there is a crisis in the world, the blame is directed towards the Jewish people. The Jews are today being targeted by radical Islam, neo-Nazis, as well as left-wing extremists. But apart from these groups whose attitudes are nothing new, we now have to take note of the “sophisticated anti-Semites”- those who say they oppose Israel and the Jewish people on humanitarian grounds! (See video link of Jonathan Sacks.) While mainstream society will always condemn the traditional anti-Semites, the sophisticated anti-Semites are often portrayed as humanitarians and champions of human rights, fighting the evil schemes of the Jews.  This year we will start to call them by their true names.

Thank you for helping us in taking on these, and many other challenges in 2018.



Holocaust Remembrance Day 2018


Brussels - This month will mark the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps. In a day and age of Holocaust denial and rising anti-Semitism in Europe, it is even more important to remember and honour the victims of the greatest crime against mankind and to learn how to take action to prevent it from happening again.

As the recent events around Europe have revealed following the US recognition of Jerusalem, anti-Semitism is not a thing of the past but a clear and present danger in Europe today.  Anti-Semitism now appears in many shapes and forms, from outright violence on the streets to those who demand a ban on circumcision or kosher slaughter, thus making it impossible to live a traditional Jewish life in Europe. (See European report from November 2017.)

The Christian world has a long history of anti-Semitism and the greatest crime against mankind took place in Christian Europe. Therefore, Christian churches have a special responsibility to commemorate the Holocaust and raise awareness of this plague in society today.

For the last ten years ECI has encouraged churches across the world to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust on the Sunday closest to January 27th. This year Sunday January 28th will be Holocaust Memorial Sunday. We would again encourage you and your church, faith community or prayer group to take a moment in your Sunday service on January 28th to do this again. During this time some churches have also decided to take a voluntary collection for ECI and our work to combat anti-Semitism throughout the year. We are grateful for any contribution at this time of the year to promote our work to raise awareness and educate about the realities of anti-Semitism today.

In collaboration with Perry Trotter and The Shadows of Shoah we will present videos of testimonies from Holocaust survivors on our website during the month of January. Please watch the videos together with your friends to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust.




Second Annual National ECI Conference in London
Britain, Israel and Europe – after the Brexit?


How will UK policies toward Israel change with the decision to leave the EU? What are the opportunities and what are the threats when Britain leaves the EU? How can British citizens support Israel in this new environment?

Come and listen to ECI staff and experts at the Second Annual National ECI Conference in London on January 13th. This is a good opportunity to learn more about ECI and our work at the European Union, the United Nations and in national capitals around Europe.

Please register as soon as possible. We hope to see you in London on January 13th!



The European Report – January 2018


Please watch our monthly talk show “The European Report” from the studio of the European Parliament on our website. This month's topic will be:  “70th Anniversary of the UN Partition Plan and what this means for Europe and Israel today”. Simon Barrett is joined by MEP Anders Vistisen, ECI Founding Director Tomas Sandell andAlex Benjamin from Europe Israel Public Affairs.



Upcoming ECI events


"Israel 70 years and ECI 15 years"
ECI European Prayer Summit in Brussels
23-25 March 2018
More information coming soon. 
 
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Editor Tomas Sandell tomas.sandell@gmail.com
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