This essay was written by Hadar Sela and published at The Commentator
In April 2011 the world celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and next year will also mark 50 years since the signing of the related Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
Both these documents contain an identical clause (in the former, article 41 and in the latter, article 55) regarding “Respect for the laws and regulations of the receiving state”:
“Without prejudice to their privileges and immunities, it is the duty of all persons enjoying such privileges and immunities to respect the laws and regulations of the receiving State.They also have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.” (emphasis added)
In light of this internationally accepted wording, let us consider the information provided on the website of the British Embassy in Tel Aviv (and recently promoted by it on social media outlets) in its “Human Rights: Quarterly Update” report. (Emphasis added)
“The UK welcomes Israel’s decision on 4 October to raise the age of legal majority for Palestinian children in the Israeli military justice system. When fully implemented, this will be an important step towards protecting children’s rights in the West Bank. We continue to lobby for further improvements…”
“The UK remains concerned by legislation proposed in the Israeli Knesset that would limit foreign funding of NGOs. This would have a serious impact on projects funded from the UK and elsewhere to support universal rights and values and would be seen as undermining the democratic principles the Israeli state is founded on. The passing of legislation is a matter for the Israeli Knesset and we note Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to suspend discussion of the bills. We will continue to monitor this issue and raise our concerns with senior Israeli officials as needed.”
“We continue to monitor and lobby on the Praver Plan…”
“The British Consulate in Jerusalem and EU Partners monitored the demonstration in the village of Nabu Salehtwice in December and have raised our concerns with the Israeli authorities.”
“On 28 November, the British Consul-General attended the trial with his German, French and Spanish counterparts. We will continue to have an EU diplomatic presence at every trial..”
“We continue to monitor legislation that could have negative repercussions on Israel’s minorities. We have lobbied the Israeli government at a senior level on the potential discriminatory repercussions of a new affirmative action bill for those who do not undertake military service…”
“We remain concerned about the progress of certain Knesset draft bills that could discriminate against minorities and limit the operations of NGOs which are critical of government policy.”
There are many more examples in the report itself and the picture is clearly one of a foreign diplomatic mission which is riding roughshod over its obligation “not to interfere in the internal affairs” of its host state.
Although the report does not cite the sources for many of its highly contentious claims, anyone familiar with the situation on the ground will recognise in this report the fingerprints of some of the many politically-motivated NGOs posing as human rights organisations which operate in the region
Hawkeye
Omar2
WellofSense
Medusa
The Alchemist
Louise
Tosca
Maimon
Telling the Truth
Israelinurse
Adam Levick
Margie in Tel Aviv
Guest/Cross Post
Hadar Sela
57 comments
Comments feed for this article
January 18, 2012 at 12:16 pm
pretzelberg
There are many more examples in the report itself and the picture is clearly one of a foreign diplomatic mission which is riding roughshod over its obligation “not to interfere in the internal affairs” of its host state.
The embassy is simply looking into human rights issues in connection with the occupation, where Jews and non-Jews are clearly treated differently by the Israeli state.
You got a problem with that?
January 18, 2012 at 12:32 pm
peterthehungarian
Yes I have. The monitoring of the human rights situation in a foreign country and bytheway conveniently forgetting the other side of the coin is not the job of a diplomatic mission, It is simply outright intervention of the internal affairs of Israel. Financing anti-government activity is not something that any country should tolerate.
I think that the FO should be busy to fire its highranking officers who committed a racially motivated hate-crime in the UK first.
January 18, 2012 at 12:37 pm
Ariadne
They are filthy hypocrites. pretzelberg. When will we have a government that enables us to have all these rights? How many jihadis is it forcing us to put up with? When will we have a government that lets us get out of the EUSSR?
And exactly what lying NGOs are we asked to countenance in our country?
I read an article a few years ago that said that in the bad old days of empire a dependent country could be run with 72 colonial officers. Now that NGOs are the bees’ knees such countries have 2000 of their propagandists who need to be housed with no expense spared and require very expensive transport to do good in.
January 18, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Snigger
I have a problem with that, pretzelberg. I am with Ariadne, below.
When the UK government ignores the rights to safety of non-Muslims and some moderate Muslims in Tower Hamlets, for example, in order to bend itself out of shape to accommodate the Islamoloons who beat up gays there as well as non-Muslims who happen to be smoking in the street on Ramadan, I think it has a ruddy cheek to interfere in Israel’s affairs or to pass judgment on them.
January 18, 2012 at 2:41 pm
pretzelberg
I used to live in Tower Hamlets – and always felt perfectly safe there.
January 19, 2012 at 4:38 am
Germolene
what does that mean Pretzelberg, that things never change, or that people who report that they were threatened are liars?
January 19, 2012 at 10:17 am
JerusalemMite
Are you gay?
January 19, 2012 at 4:42 pm
koufaxmitzvah
I got a problem with the term Occupation. If we really want to get to the crux of the situation, ALL of Israel is considered OCCUPIED by various Arab governments and Palestinian leaders, including ALL members of Hamas and MOST members of the PLO.
Furthermore, if we want to talk about treating issues differently, then why the hell is the British consulate in Tel Aviv? What’s wrong with the capital of Israel?
I know…. I know…. We MUST make sure the Arab mass has less to complain about.
Awesome.
January 19, 2012 at 6:52 pm
Ariadne
Everyone should have a problem with the term “occupation”. The EUSSR intends to stop residents – Jewish only – of Judea and Samaria – from travelling to EU countries. I seem to remember that British pensioners who live in Israel may receive no state pension depending on where they live. People pay for this pension during their working lives here. Families in, for example, Poland, can receive our very generous welfare payments if one member is working here and the rest have never set foot in Britain.
If you look at the FCO page on Jerusalem you will think that time stopped 60-odd years ago.
If the EUSSR is the evil empire I don’t know what to call us. But as Penny says, it isn’t the ordinary person or the majority.
Not a single person in the FCO is elected. Most people elected to the corrupt European parliament are unelectable here and that shows how abysmally bad they are.
January 18, 2012 at 12:36 pm
OyVaGoy
Very interesting piece, Hadar.
I wonder what William Hague had been listening to on his cans? He looks proper disappointed. Coldplay, maybe?
January 18, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Snigger
I think he was nodding off
January 18, 2012 at 2:42 pm
pretzelberg
So Coldplay, then.
January 18, 2012 at 2:34 pm
sencar
It is now widely accepted that article 41 does not preclude foreign diplomats from commenting on human rights in their host countries (particularly those of minorities). See, for example the proceedings of the Chatham House International Law discussion group meeting of 2007:
http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/public/Research/International%20Law/il280207.pdf
January 18, 2012 at 2:39 pm
ziontruth
I concur with OyVaGoy, this is a very interesting piece. Very much, I opine, for its exposure of the “Jews/Zionists meddling in world affairs” canard for the projection it is. The opposite is the truth: That pretty much the entire world has seen fit to lay grubby hands on the affairs of the one and only Jewish state in existence.
Pretz,
How about the Israeli Embassy in Britain monitor and lobby for the situation in Northern Ireland? How would you like it if they issued dossiers about “the deprivation of Celts on their own soil”? And similar to Ariadne’s point, what business does any official state body have advocating multiculturalism, either home or abroad? Neither Britain nor Israel deserved to be Lebanonized.
January 18, 2012 at 2:44 pm
pretzelberg
“the deprivation of Celts on their own soil”? There are no Celts in any part of Ireland.
And where is the British embassy “advocating multiculturalism”?
January 18, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Ariadne
No Celts? That will be news to the DNA industry.
January 18, 2012 at 3:12 pm
pretzelberg
It’s DNA testing that has in fact proven it. Like the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans after them, the Celts came over to the islands in very small numbers. It was their culture that had a massive impact.
January 18, 2012 at 3:07 pm
ziontruth
“There are no Celts in any part of Ireland.”
Wha…?! Then what are the Irish exactly? Certainly not descendants of the Teutons who crossed the North Sea by the thousands after the Romans had left. Also, my post was about an analog for the whole of Britain to this so-called Israel/Palestine conflict: If it’s “settlements dispossessing the indigenous of their lands” this British Embassy in Israel is criticizing, how about giving back everything to the Celts? Sure, the Welsh have Wales, but before Hengist and Horsa came plowing the waters to other peoples’ lands, they had the entirety of the British Isles to themselves, while now they have to share with the descendants of the invaders.
To reiterate I point I’ve made each time after this analogy: In reality I don’t care about the issue, and I wish all the meddlers in the affairs of the Jewish state would reciprocate by not caring either.
“And where is the British embassy ‘advocating multiculturalism’?”
All this talk about “minority rights”—present-day Marxist code for denying the notion that the state should be its nation’s castle. While America is a state that accepts any immigrant as a national on its soil following a minimal process of naturalization, Israel (and Britain too, it must be added) is a single nation’s state (the Jewish nation, in Israel’s case). There is here nothing but an attempt to deprive the Jewish nation of its security within its nation-state, and the whistle needs to be blown over that.
January 18, 2012 at 3:16 pm
pretzelberg
The Teutons never crossed the North Sea.
As for “descendants of the invaders” – see my response above to Ariadne.
There is here nothing but an attempt to deprive the Jewish nation of its security within its nation-state
The embassy is talking about the occupied West Bank and the discriminatory treatment of people there by the Israeli government. It has nowt to do with securtity.
January 18, 2012 at 3:44 pm
ziontruth
“The Teutons never crossed the North Sea.”
Don’t you be getting literalist like Dubitante. I meant Germanic peoples, which the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were. Their invasion of the British Isles was in large numbers, their ships bringing from the regions of present-day Friesland, Germany and Denmark not just an army of men but also women and children to populate Britain. This they did while driving the Celts westward.
Historical interest, nothing more, but it’s always intriguing to see how unclean hands suddenly go sprouting angel wings. The world would be better off without all this moralizing and preachifying and nations telling each other what to do.
“The embassy is talking about the occupied West Bank…”
What is the embassy doing talking about disputed territory? Since when was it an embassy’s job to take sides in a dispute?
January 18, 2012 at 4:15 pm
pretzelberg
I meant Germanic peoples, which the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were.
So why say Teutons? They were a different tribe.
This they did while driving the Celts westward.
Yes, I learned that at school too. But it turns out it’s a myth.
As for the acutal topic of the article: what does concern for the rights of non-Jews discriminated against in the occupied West Bank have to do with Israeli security?
January 18, 2012 at 4:38 pm
ziontruth
“But it turns out it’s a myth.”
Like heck it is. Sure, Celts could stay to live under Anglo-Saxon rule if they wanted to, but only in apartheid conditions. One of the Anglo-Saxon riddles speaks of “Welsh, or better men” in graphic demonstration of the low regard the Anglo-Saxons had for the Celts. Even the name “Welsh” means “foreign.”
“As for the acutal topic of the article…”
Tangential as the discussion of Celts vs. Anglo-Saxons in Britain might be, I brought it for a reason: An otherwise interesting piece of history could easily be brought as a point of criticism if the British Embassy in Israel (as well as any other foreign organization) does not care to regard this local Jewish–Arab conflict as nothing but one among many, unremarkable spats between groups of human beings.
Reciprocity, that’s all I’m asking for. I don’t care about Britain’s past and present beyond basic human curiosity, so let British individuals, news outlets (like the Graun) and political organizations show nothing beyond curiosity about this local conflict. If I’ve said it once, then I’ve said it a thousand times: The world is not a global village, and what goes in one part of it should definitely not be the concern of every other part.
January 18, 2012 at 5:50 pm
pretzelberg
Celts could stay to live under Anglo-Saxon rule if they wanted to, but only in apartheid conditions.
But they weren’t Celts!
And please spare us the cheap reference to apartheid.
January 18, 2012 at 6:17 pm
ziontruth
“But they weren’t Celts!”
You’ve been refuted by others here on this point. DNA evidence apart, they all spoke back then (as some still do now) Celtic languages.
“And please spare us the cheap reference to apartheid.”
You might want to tell the researchers at University College London to spare us the use of that term.
Evidence for an apartheid-like social structure in early Anglo-Saxon England
Ancient Britain Had Apartheid-Like Society, Study Suggests
‘Apartheid’ slashed Celtic genes in early England
January 18, 2012 at 6:18 pm
ziontruth
Oops, last link got munged. Should be:
‘Apartheid’ slashed Celtic genes in early England
January 18, 2012 at 3:27 pm
Penny
If the Celts don’t quite cut it for Pretz, perhaps the Travellers might.
Here in the UK we have several minority groups. Travellers being one of them. Regardless of your view on this particular community, it is the case that when they park up in a town they are swiftly moved on. This is because of the local by-laws and those pertaining to public open space and Highways. In other words, Travellers, even by virtue of their semi-nomadic lifestyle, are not allowed to break laws.
I would suggest, however, that the Israelis might like to visit this community to hear their views on the matter. Of course, to be absolutely in step with the report referred to in Hadar Sela’s article, Israeli diplomats should not seek comments to clarify the law from the local councils. Nor should they speak to any residents or owners of private land. The Israelis could then publish reports about British treatment of a minority group on an international scale – all in the interests of minority human rights, of course..
I’ve read the report Hadar mentions and I think it’s safe to say that the issues highlighted by the Concerned of the Diplomatic Corp are not unique to Israel. They’re just treated as such by hypocrites.
January 18, 2012 at 3:28 pm
STV
As a Brit I think I should point out that the Normans, Romans et al left next to no trace (less than 1%) as far as the genetic make-up of the British people are concerned.
The ‘indigenous’ people are still very much the indigenous people if you catch my drift.
This is my government poking it’s nose where they have no right to. It’s something I very much want to see stop happening with my money especially since all they seem to do is spout the same anti-Israeli lies and ignore rules of law.
It should be noted that they do nothing on this level like this in any Arab country or in China etc.
It’s a shame because think we have more in common with the Israelis and would work much better with them than the Arabs.
January 18, 2012 at 3:43 pm
Ariadne
Hear, hear!
January 18, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Penny
My thoughts exactly STV and Ariadne.
This is getting beyond embarrassing for Brits.
January 18, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Ariadne
You haven’t read an Irish “discussion” of what Irish DNA might consist of.
Addressed to Pretzie baby in case it doesn’t post below his.
January 18, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Ariadne
Penny
I haven’t read the article but I just saw a link to ynet and what the EU intends to make Israel do.
I’d just love to see Britain try to interfere in Saudi Arabia.
January 19, 2012 at 8:39 am
Penny
We seem not to interfere in Saudi affairs even if they’re likely to have an adverse effect on the UK, Ariadne – never mind the goings-on in SA itself. Perhaps you saw the documentary regarding some faith schools in the UK teaching from Wahabist text books? Young, British children, taught that non-Muslims are apes, pigs and monkeys, will one day reach maturity.
I don’t make a habit of watching the BBC’s Question Time because it makes me queasy, but I happened to switch on just as one of our elderly MP’s was drooling over SA to the extent that he had to be cut short by Dimbleby or he’d have gone on for ever. Melting into a pool of liquid rapture, no doubt.
As for the original article:the problem with many of Israel’s critics is that they are insular and seemingly unaware of their own country’s practices. When they read about, say, an eviction in Israel, Bedouins being moved on, run-down areas, young people in detention centres and so on, they appear blind to the same practices in the UK (or wherever they are from). This makes us appear not only hypocritical, but also rather stupid.
January 19, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Ariadne
Penny, I didn’t see that documentary but I’m beginning to wonder where there isn’t rot and what kind of undesirable we would refuse to throw money at.
Our MPs are just discovering benefit tourism according to The Telegraph.
January 18, 2012 at 4:18 pm
pretzelberg
It should be noted that they do nothing on this level like this in any Arab country or in China etc.
You are right – to an extent. There is obvious hypocrisy when it comes to being friendly with the likes of the Saudis.
January 18, 2012 at 3:50 pm
Gerald
“There are no Celts in any part of Ireland.”
Really pretzelberg?
This is clearly NOT the view of Professor Sykes after he had carried out extensive research. In his book ‘Blood of the Isles’ he writes that the Celts are most DOMINANT in areas of Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
“These DNA “fingerprints” have enabled Professor Sykes to create the first genetic maps of the British Isles, which are analysed in Blood of the Isles, a book published this week. The maps show that Celts are most dominant in areas of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. But, contrary to popular myth, the Celtic clan is also strongly represented elsewhere in the British Isles.”
I know from personal experience of spending some time in Ireland, more than once before you ask, and from having been a supporter of The Celtic League of Nations (Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany) that Ireland is not only populated by a number of Celts but regards itself as a Celtic nation.
January 18, 2012 at 4:36 pm
pretzelberg
Celts are most dominant in areas of Ireland, Scotland and Wales”
i.e. slightly more “dominant” than in England. But not dominant at all, in fact.
The DNA of white people in the Britain and Ireland is mainly pre-Roman/”Celtic”etc.
I know from personal experience of spending some time in Ireland …and from having been a supporter of The Celtic League of Nations … that Ireland [is] populated by a number of Celts …
Hilarious!
January 18, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Ariadne
Pretzie baby
I’m beginning to hope a Druid gets you.
January 18, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Ariadne
Or maybe I mean a Pict.
January 19, 2012 at 4:25 am
Gerald
pretzelberg do you have a problem with reading?
Or, as seems more likely, an inability to accept in spite of all the evidence that you are wrong?
Get well soon pretzelberg, I hope the Health Service in Germany can help you.
January 18, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Penny
Sencar .
The link you provide to a Chatham House discussion (hardly a decision-making body) states the following:
“The sub-title “Non-interference in a state’s internal affairs used to be a rule of international law: is it still?” was intended to be rhetorical. There is no doubt that the principle of non-intervention remains well-established in contemporary international law.”
That doesn’t sound much like. – ” it is now widely accepted that article 41 does not preclude foreign diplomats….”
January 18, 2012 at 4:49 pm
Abtalyon
I really don’t know the legal position of a foreign consulate “monitoring” the decisions of the political body controlling the area where the consulate is situated. It seems to me presumptious if not downright impertinent.
But then, I get the impression that the UK FCO has never really come to terms with the fact that the Mandate ended in 1948 and that Britain’s influence is restricted to its client state, Jordan.
If the Israeli Foreign Office feels that British diplomats have overstepped the bounds, they can always declare them personae non grata and expel them.
January 18, 2012 at 11:15 pm
peterthehungarian
The disgusting behaviour of Matthew Gould the British ambassador to Israel and his attempt to demonise his hosts are documented here.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Editorials/Article.aspx?id=252452
January 19, 2012 at 5:48 am
Ariadne
Hague’s in Brazil and won’t be reading this. I have a feeling Cameron blocks tweets.
But there’s @foreignoffice and there’s UKIP @Nigel_Farage. And Hague is @WilliamJHague.
What’s Netanyahu?
January 19, 2012 at 7:12 am
improud2bnisraeli
Perhaps Israel should start funding the EDL.
January 19, 2012 at 7:16 am
improud2bnisraeli
These Brits should be told that the British Mandate for palestine ended yonks ago.
They are still hanging on the tattered and shredded memories of the times when they ran amok in the Land of Israel,which they renamed palestine.
January 19, 2012 at 7:22 am
improud2bnisraeli
Why isn’t the Israeli government putting a stop to this interference in Israeli government affairs and internal Israeli affars.
The British will treat us the way we allow them to.Any other state would have told them to EFF OFF.
January 19, 2012 at 9:19 am
Ariadne
I hope Israel is no longer interested in membership of the EUSSR. It’s an “abandon hope” kind of organisation.
January 19, 2012 at 9:20 am
Penny
improud2bnisraeli – if the Israeli government put a stop to the freedom of movement and speech of diplomats it would be the Israeli government that is seen in a bad light. Also, I’m not sure to what degree diplomatic immunity can be used to prevent such action..
I would prefer that the British public themselves become more aware of our interference and double-standards, and those members of the public who shriek at Israel (and despite the way it seems, they are a minority – albeit a vocal one), are made aware of the parallels between the actions and practices of the Israeli authorities and those in the UK.
January 19, 2012 at 9:53 am
ziontruth
“…if the Israeli government put a stop to the freedom of movement and speech of diplomats it would be the Israeli government that is seen in a bad light.”
What would it be like for the Israeli government to be seen in a bad light? I plainly have no idea. I mean, nothing like that has ever happened. /sarc
“I would prefer that the British public themselves become more aware of our interference and double-standards,…”
From my reading of independent European sources, foremostly the ones featured at the Gates of Vienna blog, I gather that the will of the people in Britain—as elsewhere in Europe—is not exactly on the high priority list of the politicos in charge. So, even if you could make the British public aware of their diplomats’ misconduct, change of the situation wouldn’t follow. The government ignores the voice of the people with regard to immigration, nanny-statery, pervasive surveillance and other such things of import; what, then, is the chance it would ever listen to protests against diplomatic misconduct toward one country?
No, it’s up to Israel to fix things. Problems we have is problems we should take care of ourselves. If we don’t, others surely won’t.
January 19, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Penny
Ziontruth
Yes, you’re right up to a point regarding our politicos and the Europeans – but to be fair, if you (the generic ‘you’) were to take all your views from the media, no country comes out well in this respect.
I can only really speak for the UK where, the media aside, the discontent with our system is slowly being voiced. We all know things are wrong but political correctness and the sloppy liberalism that has overtaken the political left has, over a period of many years, caused us to self-censor. I believe this is beginning to be seen for what it is.
I don’t disagree that Israel’s affairs are entirely up to Israel, and should be dealt with as the Israeli people see fit – but that doesn’t alter my own country’s failings or the corner we may end up painting ourselves into if we continue down a path strewn with double-standards and hypocrisy.
January 21, 2012 at 2:09 pm
ziontruth
“…the discontent with our system is slowly being voiced.”
I know it is. The trouble is, are your voices being listened to? Even in Israel the leadership goes far too often contrary to the majority voice. Any poll of Israeli Jewish society will conclusively show that the idea of land concessions has fallen out of favor, yet our politicos still dare to say that failed idea should once again be tried, with Judea and Samaria.
The only ways out of such a predicament I can see is either the majority voice finally climbs its way up to dominate the leadership, or matters come to such a head that a civil war ensues. That is the situation when the politicos arrogantly forget they were elected to serve the people.
“I don’t disagree that Israel’s affairs are entirely up to Israel, and should be dealt with as the Israeli people see fit…”
I wasn’t criticizing the British people here; it was more like saying, “You have bigger fish to fry.” I like to think this local Middle East conflict is one among so many issues, and not very important either, as far as the average Brit is concerned. As an Israeli Jew, my point of view is, of course, different: For me, this is an important affair. Therefore, since it’s important to the average Israeli and only of marginal concern to the average Brit, it follows that Israel needs to take care of it.
As with the United States, as indeed with all countries of the world, my goal for the Britain–Israel relationship is that it be a normal one, neither one of hostility nor a “special relationship” where my country could be held in thrall (as in the U.S.–Israel case right now). As I have said to Pretzelberg, I don’t care much about Britain’s misdeeds either past or present, and all I request is reciprocation in that department. With Britain not even giving foreign aid to Israel, I really don’t see why any British person should care about the local conflict between Israel and the Arabs. Just as I don’t care about Sri Lanka.
January 21, 2012 at 3:36 pm
Ariadne
Some better news from Britain:
Goodbye Press TV!
January 22, 2012 at 5:50 am
sencar
“Any poll of Israeli Jewish society will conclusively show that the idea of land concessions has fallen out of favor”
Funnily enough a very recent poll published by BICOM showed exactly the opposite:
http://bicom.org.uk/opinion-poll/4542/
“In principle, is it more important to you for Israel to be a state with a Jewish majority or for the West Bank to remain under its control permanently, even if there is a large Palestinian population there?
The picture is clear: Two thirds preferred to preserve the state’s Jewish nature, and less than a quarter (23%) preferred the continued control over all the area of the Land of Israel currently under Israeli control, along with its Palestinian population.”
January 22, 2012 at 10:28 am
ziontruth
Such an either/or question will naturally produce the result you cited. Add the option of “I prefer both” and you’ll see the results change dramatically.
January 23, 2012 at 3:11 pm
sencar
Are you proposing another bout of ethnic cleansing, ziontruth?
January 23, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Thank God I'm an Infidel
I’m proposing another round of defeat and Nakba.
January 23, 2012 at 4:19 pm
Ariel
If the Israeli army decides to arrest and try Palestinian citizens inside the Palestinian territory, this is no longer an “Israeli internal affair”, this is an internaitonal affair. EU diplomats are only doing their work when they monitor the arrest and trial of Palestinians who were demonstrating against the development of settlements built on their land in contravention of international law. the EU monitors controversial trials all over the world, there is no reason why it would not do it in israel as well.