European Coalition for Israel

- Rejecting the Goldstone report is a good first step, says ECI director.

Brussels 17 September 2009 – As the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso on Wednesday was officially confirmed for a second term by the European Parliament, the European Coalition for Israel sent an official acknowledgment congratulating him for his new term and calling for a fresh start also in EU-Israeli relations.

The proposed upgrade of EU-Israeli relations, which was to be formalized during the Czech EU-presidency earlier this year, has been put on hold because of the Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza in January. The current EU-presidency ofSweden has complicated EU relations with Israel further by refusing to react against accusations of Jewish blood libels circulating in the Swedish press.

Efforts are now made by US President Barack Obama to bring together the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in order to give a new injection to the peace process in the Middle East. A meeting between the three leaders is expected to take place next week in connection with the UN General Assembly in New York

“- This is the right time for the European Union to signal that it wants to play an active and constructive role in the peace process in the Middle East by denouncing every effort to demonize Israel in the United Nations”, said ECI director Tomas Sandell on Thursday. The European Coalition for Israel therefore calls on the European Union to clearly reject the so called Goldstone report when it reaches the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Goldstone report accuses Israel of war crimes during Operation Cast Lead and puts the Israeli army on equal footing with the EU branded terrorist organization Hamas.

ECI would like to bring to the attention the fact that this was the same UN Human Rights Council which happily gave the floor to Iranian leader Mahmud Ahmadinejad to address their annual meeting earlier this year. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the destruction of the Jewish state.

The highly controversial UN Human Council has been seriously discredited in recent years by giving nations such as Libya, Iran, Cuba and Saudi Arabia key positions in its missions. The same nations which have been given the UN mandate to promote human rights are by most Western nations considered as some of the worst human rights violators in the international community. This is the reason why several counties boycotted the UN Conference against Racism in April and why a delegation of EU diplomats left the building in protest when Iranian leader Ahmadinejad spoke to the assembly.

"- The Goldstone report is a clear reflection of the same old hatred against the Jewish state which has been circulated and promoted in various reports by the same institution already for years. By rejecting this report the European Union would signal that it is a serious partner in the peace process and not part in any international campaign to demonize the only democracy in the Middle East”, concludes ECI in its letter to the re-elected EU executive.

The composition of the new European Commission will be finalized and voted on during the course of the autumn and will take office on January 1, 2010.