European Coalition for Israel

65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz commemorated at events in Krakow and Brussels - ECI called upon the EU not to forget today’s threats against the Jewish people

Brussels 1, February, 2010 – The 65th anniversary of the liberation of concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau was commemorated on Wednesday at various ceremonies and events in Krakow and in Brussels.

In his speech in Auschwitz President Jerzy Buzek of the European Parliament said “it is our duty to ensure remembrance and to educate.”
“- Those who lived through the hell of the camps never forget. The others - the younger generations - must not be allowed to forget.”

This call was also echoed in the Yehudi Menuhin hall in the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday evening where a record number of guests attended the Annual European Holocaust Memorial hosted both by the European Coalition for Israel and MEP Alf Svensson and with two Shoah survivors, Benjamin Silberberg and Henri Elberg sharing their testimonies from the Nazi death camps.

ECI calls upon EU leaders to respect the Oslo accords and avoid unilateral statements on future status of Jerusalem

Brussels, 3 December, 2009 – European Coalition for Israel has today in an open letter to the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt urged the Swedish government to reconsider the proposed unilateral declaration for a Palestinian state and for East-Jerusalem as its future capital. The Swedish government, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, has written a draft document which will be discussed next week on Monday and Tuesday at a meeting with EU-foreign ministers in Brussels, after which a statement outlining EU’s Middle East policy is expected.

No legal excuse for Swedish Foreign Minister

No legal excuse for Swedish Foreign Minister Bildt to refrain from criticizing blood libel article in Aftonbladet

Stockholm 12 November 2009 – “There were no constitutional restraints for Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt to comment or criticize the publication of the article in Aftonbladet in August that suggested that Israeli soldiers were trafficking human organ from Palestinians. When the article appeared in the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet on 17 August, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt refused to distance himself from the text by explaining that “any comment from his side may be in contradiction with the Swedish constitution which forbids government leaders from interfering with freedom of the press.”

But Swedish Chancellor of Justice Göran Lambertz clearly rejected this interpretation of the Swedish constitution as he spoke at a symposium in the Swedish parliament yesterday.