Blog : Ragazou

Analysis
By GOLDA SHIRA, Chicago Jewish News

WASHINGTON ? European Union foreign ministers are calling for negotiations over the status of Jerusalem and demanding the holy city serve as the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman 

Meeting in Brussels, the 27 ministers issued a statement saying "If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states." 

 In response, Israel's Foreign Ministry said the statement "ignores the primary obstacle to achieving a resolution between Israel and the Palestinians: the Palestinian refusal to return to the negotiating table. Given the Israel government's efforts to renew the negotiations, Israel regrets that the EU has chosen to adopt a text that, although containing nothing new, does not contribute to the renewal of negotiations.
 
 "We expect the EU to act to promote direct negotiations between the parties, while considering Israel's security needs and understanding that Israel's Jewish character must be preserved in any future agreement."
 
 Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman added, however, that he was "pleased that the EU ministers did not adopt the inflammatory and one-sided Council of Foreign Ministers Statement, as it had originally been presented. Israel would like to express its esteem for those states which led the adoption of the final text and thereby prevented a further hardening of Palestinian positions, harming the possibility of renewing negotiations."
 
 The original statement, proposed by Sweden, said that "Europe calls for an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable state of Palestine, comprising the West Bank and Gaza and with east Jerusalem as its capital. If there is to be a genuine peace, a way must be found to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the capital of two states." The Israeli daily Ma'ariv reported that the Swedish resolution also added, "Europe has never recognized Jerusalem's annexation" and "The European Union will not recognize any changes to '67 borders unless agreed upon by both states." The proposal did not explicitly identify western Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
 
 But even though that statement was not adopted, even the less harsh EU statement was criticized by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who said he "completely rejects the decision of the EU to support the division of Jerusalem, calling it a real danger for the future of Jerusalem that will never work." Barkat noted that the recent celebration of the 20th anniversary of the reunification of Berlin reminds us that no divided city in the history of the world has functioned properly."
 
 European Jewish Congress president Mosher Kantor said "although the declaration goes some way to correcting the unprecedented proposals by the Swedes, it is still extremely lopsided towards the Palestinian point of view. This will only embolden the Palestinians by sending them the message that they don't need to negotiate because they will receive everything on a silver platter. It also ignores the fact that Israel has repeatedly called for immediate and direct negotiations without preconditions, something repeatedly ignored by the Palestinians."
 
 News of the EU statement came on the same day that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was meeting in Washington with Tony Blair, charged with increasing cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians in his role as the Quartet's special representative to the Middle East (the EU is one of the Quartet's members). At a brief meeting with reporters, Blair said, "We will keep working ... to do everything we can to make progress between the Israelis and the Palestinians.  It's a difficult moment right now - but then it always is - but we're going to keep working on it very hard in order to try and bring about a change in circumstances that allow us to get into negotiations and make real progress."
 
 State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley gave the official American reaction to the EU statement, saying, "we certainly recognize the importance of getting back to a negotiation, and we all have our differing views on the emotional and complex issues that are at the heart of this challenge.  We are aware of the EU statement, but our position on Jerusalem is clear.  United States policy remains unaffected and unchanged. And we believe that as a final status issue, this is best addressed inside a formal negotiation among the parties directly."
 
 From its headquarters in New York, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, said, "on behalf of the millions of Jews who faithfully pray toward Jerusalem and for her peace, we denounce the audacious statement of the EU ministers.
 
 "Jerusalem has been the eternal capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years, and despite being conquered and claimed by many others, it has never served as another nation's capital.
 
 "Part of the city became modern Israel's capital in 1948, and the entire city was reunited as our capital in 1967. The EU ministers must confront the fact that when the Old City was last ruled by Arabs, Jews and Christians were denied access to their holiest sites, and those sites were defaced and desecrated. It has only been under Israeli sovereignty that Jerusalem has been an open and thriving city, and people of all faiths have had their holy sites protected and afforded almost unfettered access.
 
 "As if the EU ministers' statement were not offensive enough for ignoring this relevant history, it is remarkable that the ministers chose to issue this statement just after Prime Minister Netanyahu announced an unprecedented freeze of Israeli settlement activity for the sake of restarting peace negotiations with the Palestinians -- who rejected the Prime Minister's offer. Instead of commending Israel's step and pressing the Palestinians for their recalcitrance, the ministers of the EU choose to act in favor of the Palestinians. This is unacceptable and should show that the EU has forfeited its role as a constructive party to resolving the Israeli-Arab conflict."
 
 Golda Shira is a multi-award winning journalist (Columbia University Press Association, Rockower awards, Lisagor Award) who has been part of the White House Press corps for more than 15 years and has been covering the Middle East for more than three decades. She was assistant to the Jerusalem Bureau Chief of the Los Angeles Times.
   
Source CJN