This month's report is a mixed bag of good news and bad news. One does not need to look very far to find some bad news concerning the situation regarding Israel in the Middle East or for the Jewish people in Europe. The recent example of the new Swedish Government and its intention to recognise a Palestinian state, without a negotiated peace agreement with the Israeli Government, is obviously bad news. The good news however, is that the idea of recognition of a Palestinian state by a Nordic bloc does not seem to be happening, after Finnish President, Sauli Niinisto, rejected the idea on Tuesday. In this report, you will find more good news from an unexpected corner of Europe - Albania - as well as from the United Nations in New York.
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ECI High Level Breakfast in the UN receives support from PM Netanyahu and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Through presentations and personal testimonies, real-life examples were presented, demonstrating how people groups and political leaders can reconcile in this day and age ? from the German-French reconciliation after WW2, to the unique process of healing and unification which took place in Rwanda after the genocide of 1994.
The powerful message of keynote speaker Ambassador Karel Kovanda (former Deputy Director General of the European Commission External Action Service)(Picture 1) and Rwandan Ambassador, Jeanne d’ Arc Byaje (Picture 2 together with Permanent Representative of Germany to the UN Harald Braun), were combined with personal reflections on the meaning of Yom Kippur from Malcolm Hoenlein (Picture 3) of the Conference on Presidents of Major Jewish Organisations, and Israeli Permanent Representative to the UN, Ron Prosor.Gregory Lafitte and Tomas Sandell shared the vision behind the breakfast meeting, explaining the need to recognise the many contributions of the Jewish people to the creation of the UN and to world peace.
‘All around the UN we see examples of these Jewish contributions - from the Norman Rockwell mosaic of the Golden Rule (“do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) to the Isaiah Wall and its universal vision for world peace’, Lafitte said.
The new ECI initiative - Forum for Cultural Diplomacy - aims to build on these principles, in order to strengthen the original values and objectives of the UN, and better include Israel in the family of nations.Whereas other world religions have their holidays recognised at the UN, Jewish holidays have no such recognition. ECI is currently involved, along with the Israeli Government, in asking for UN recognition of Yom Kippur.
The historical significance of the breakfast meeting was illustrated by a personal letter from Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu who thanked ECI for all its efforts to make Yom Kippur a UN holiday. There was also a letter to ECI from UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, describing the event in the UN Headquarters as ‘very important’.
The recent High Level Breakfast meeting proves that Israel has more friends in the UN than what is generally perceived to be the case, and that these nations can be mobilised if we use the right approach. The Forum for Cultural Diplomacy will continue to raise awareness of Jewish contributions to the international community as we reach out to more UN member states. At this point, ECI has met with some 70-80 UN missions in New York, in constructive and positive discussions about Israel. There are currently 193 member states in the UN.
(Photos by Arnold Brower)
ECI delegation meets with President of Albania
Receives invitation to celebrate Hanukkah in Tirana
A delegation from ECI was received by the President of Albania, Bujar Nishani, during his visit to the General Debate of the 69th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York in the last week of September. In the meeting, President Nishani expressed great interest in the work of ECI and the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy and our remit to strengthen relations between Europe and Israel and to protect the Jewish people.
It may come as a surprise that Jews were so well protected in this predominately Muslim country, but Albania continues along this path today. In the UN vote on Palestinian non-member observer state status in November 2012, Albania belonged to a small group of nations who abstained, despite the country being formally part of the Islamic Bloc. The country was later harshly criticised by the Turkish Prime Minister for having failed to support the Palestinian cause.
The President explained his country's close relations with the Jewish state and their growing trade relations as something very positive. The President was one of very few European statesmen to have attended the 90th birthday party of former Israeli President, Shimon Peres, and last year he hosted a Hanukkah party in Tirana in recognition of Jewish culture in the nation. At the end of the meeting, the President kindly extended an invitation to the ECI delegation to attend the next Hanukkah party to be held in Tirana in December. He also re-iterated that the Albanian Government is interested in working with ECI to enhance good relations between Israel and Europe and with the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy at a UN level.
The case for Albania is not unique. A number of countries in the world are currently drawing closer to Israel to learn from its dynamic developments and start-up culture. ECI is proud to support these relationships and facilitate their support on an EU and UN level.
New government in Sweden plans to recognise Palestinian state - but other Nordic countries unlikely to join
The Swedish plan may still hit some major hurdles at home as the opposition parties do not agree with the new position. The Swedish initiative was not a complete surprise. Earlier in the year, future Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, had made a statement in sympathetic support of Israel on his Facebook page, which, as a consequence, was flooded with anti-Semitic messages of the most violent nature. The Prime Minister later had to delete his statement and has apparently been forced to give in to the strong anti-Israeli lobby in the party.
In 2008, the Social Democratic Party made an agreement with the Muslim Council in Sweden, promising to support the Muslim cause in exchange for political support from the Muslim community. But the anti-Israeli sentiments in the party date back to the 1970s, when Olof Palme expressed his support for Yasser Arafat. In 1983, Palme was the first Western leader to receive Yasser Arafat and present him as a statesman and not as a terrorist leader. The current leadership of the Social Democratic Party has been involved in close relations with the terrorist group Hamas.
The Swedish plan however, violates international law and the criteria for statehood according to the Montevideo Convention. This states that a prospective state needs to control its own territory and have settled any border disputes before it can receive statehood. “The Palestinian state” meets neither criterion, as the territory is divided between Hamas and Fatah and the Palestinian Authority has yet to settle its border disputes with Israel.
ECI was able to respond to the Swedish declaration on the very same day that it was announced, through a widely-circulated commentary in the newspaper Varlden Idag, explaining why the declaration is against international law. These arguments were later picked up and quoted in speeches and articles in Sweden and other Nordic countries and may have helped galvanise a defence against recognition of a Palestinian state.
By engaging in the public debate with relevant arguments, ECI can help shape the debate in favour of Israel.
SAVE THE DATE
European Coalition for Israel 11th Annual Policy Conference in the European Parliament in Brussels,
20th -21st November, 2014.
‘EU-Israeli Relations - 70 years after the Liberation of Auschwitz’
Seats are limited, please pre-register today. More information with details for registration will be sent out in the next days.
Editor Tomas Sandell tomas.sandell@pp.inet.fi
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