Tag: Israel

Rising Neo-Nationalism Threatens Social, Economic Progress Worldwide

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Nationalism is on the rise worldwide. A new form of nationalism has emerged in the last decade that pits nativists, xenophobes, and populists against an increasingly globalized world. “Neo-nationalism” as the trend has become known is leading to increasing belligerence between nations and an uninformed suspicion of the “other” that could lead to far-reaching international confrontation.

Three countries exemplify this trend like none other, with deepening consequences to their national reputation and diplomatic standing in the world. India’s Hindu nationalism is leading to an economic boycott of its most important trade partner, the disastrous pandemic response in the US is diminishing its standing, and Israeli nationalism is bringing it ever closer to annexation.

US nationalism meets COVID-19

For decades US politicians have considered their country to be the best of all, solely based on GDP and military might. Even though the US slipped in important metrics, including education and healthcare, it remained a taboo for politicians to declare the US anything but number one. The US is now not even in the top 10 in most fields that would be considered to be signs of “being the best.”

The US now ranks 27th in education in health, down from 6th place in the 1990s. The country is the 19th happiest country, and the 42nd most corrupt. The country is now the 27th in social mobility, which means that there are 26 countries where citizens are more likely to achieve the “American Dream,” or work their way up from poor to rich.

But amid this collapse of living standard and public services, amid a crumbling infrastructure that needs $4.5 trillion worth of repairs and maintenance before 2025, American nationalism has maintained the fiction that the US is the best country in the world. This mistaken analysis was evident in its approach to COVID-19 that has now cost 125,318 American lives.

The US has considered its privatized and decentralized healthcare system more than capable of resisting a shock that caused much more accessible healthcare systems in Western Europe to tremble. The country’s misplaced nationalism meant little extra effort was mobilized even as evidence of the pandemic’s severity emerged from Europe, leading to a disastrous and deadly failed response that has severely diminished the US’ standing in the world.

Israeli annexation fueled by nationalism

There are few people in the world as familiar with the dangers of unfettered nationalism than the Jewish diaspora. The rise of nationalism in Europe led to increasing antisemitism that concluded in the barbarous mass murder of millions of innocent Jewish people. But history is doomed to repeat itself as Israeli hardliners now fuel a similar type of nationalism within their own nation.

Far-right media continuously turn the native Palestinians into a dangerous “other” and push the country further right. Israeli neo-nationalism is visible on a daily basis in publications such as the Netanyahu-aligned newspaper Israel Hayom, and more mainstream publications such as the Jerusalem Post or the Times of Israel regularly feature highly problematic opinion pieces.

One feature of neo-nationalism that is visible from Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban to Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is the rapid mainstreaming of nationalist thinking. By employing marketing strategies and exploiting social media, neo-nationalists create a world of alternative facts for their supporters.

The world of alternative facts has turned UN-declared illegal settlers into “brave pioneers” and oppressed native people into “dangerous terrorists.” iI has turned the country’s nationalists against the United Nations, through which Israel was founded in the first place. Now misplaced nationalist zeal could lead Israel to commit a blatant violation of international norms and turn itself into a global pariah as nationalists urge Netanyahu to go further and annex even more Palestinian land.

Indian radical nationalism

India’s Hindu nationalists are transforming their country away from the legacy of Gandhi and Nehru and into a dangerously volatile chaos of misinformation, mob violence, and an increasing war fervor against neighboring China. India’s media has enthusiastically whipped up resentment and even violence against local minorities, blamed COVID-19 on local Muslims, and framed an undisciplined scuffle between border troops as a casus belli.

Indian neo-nationalism is likely the most entrenched form of the trend found globally. Mainstream politicians, news reporting, and the government itself continuously misinform and manipulate public frustrations.

The rise of mainstream nationalist fervor could be seen in Indian Prime Minister Nahendra Modi’s 2019 electoral campaign. After his first successful campaign focused on economic development, whipping up nationalism proved easier to deliver. “We were nationalist, we are nationalists and we will remain nationalists,” he said in a campaign speech.

Similar to neo-nationalism in Israel and the US, Indian nationalism is producing a dangerous feedback loop that could turn disastrous.

When a hand-to-hand fight between a few dozen Chinese and Indian border troops led to casualties, there was no critical media left to see the event as what it was. Troops showing poor discipline that should have been court-martialed instead became national martyrs as ill informed masses cried for war against a country with a far superior military and economy.

Divide and conquer

In the end neo-nationalism serves but one purpose: It masks the negative effects our global neoliberal economics have on the poor and middle classes and instead pitches them against each other. By fueling resentment and hatred of the “other,” neoliberal leaders such as Modi, Netanyahu, and Trump can hide the continuous wealth transfer from the poor and working classes to the rich.

Misinformed working-class Indians, Israelis, and Americans have much more in common with those who they are manipulated into hating, than the millionaires and politicians that foment this discord. Neo-nationalism has become the favored approach by politicians who can no longer promise economic development through neoliberalism, as that theory has again and again been roundly disproved.

“Divide and conquer” appears to be the political mantra of our era, with potentially disastrous consequences for us all.

World Struggles to Stand Against Israeli Annexation

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With less than a week until Israeli annexation plans could feasibly commence, countries around the world are expressing very different reactions to Israel’s intended moves. The responses have been varied as global alliances, religious convictions, and economic factors weigh on nations’ willingness to risk conflict with Israel and its powerful ally in Washington.

While few nations have expressed outright support for the clear violation of international law, the rhetoric employed by those in opposition indicates that few are willing to position themselves as “anti-Israeli” or risk the ire of our global hegemon. That annexation would risk the local peace progress is nothing but a statement of simple fact, but most world leaders are reluctant to venture beyond restating this.

The EU

European leaders have received Israel’s annexation plans with much bombastic diplomatic language, but have been reluctant to make any threats if Israel proceeds with its planned violation of international law.

Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, traveled to Israel to discuss the matter, but even before departure had to admit he would offer no practical threat that could provide an incentive for Israel to halt its plans.

Over 1,000 parliamentarians have since signed a letter opposing Israel’s planned annexation, but the letter does little more than express “serious concerns” or highlight the “destabilizing potential” of Israel’s publicly stated intention to break international conventions on warfare, the Charter of the United Nations, and the basic premise of national sovereignty.

The US

In the US wide-spread political support for Israel has led to fragmented partisan splits on the issue. While many politicians have spoken out against annexation, the language used reveals much more concern about implications for Israel’s security than the well being of “annexed” Palestinians.

Their entire concept of an “agreed upon” annexation according to an unsigned peace plan originates from diplomatic novice Jared Kushner’s heavily criticized proposal. Much of the US press has opposed annexation but has done so primarily from a perspective that focuses on Israeli security.

Many have claimed that the annexation plans, and their timing, are a direct Trump ploy to create a new narrative before the US presidential elections in November 2020.

Arab nations

The Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League have condemned annexation plans and endorsed the establishment of an independent Palestine. However, other than highlighting the obvious breaches of international law, the Arab world has so far not shown a united front against a possible expansion of Israeli land at the expense of Palestinians.

Only Jordan has posed a clear ultimatum to Israel by threatening war. Jordan is highly dependent on the US and fears its possible retaliation, just like many Arab states, but stands alone in offering a practical disincentive to Israel’s plans. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent the director of the Israeli secret service to Amman last week with a message for Jordan’s King Abdullah II. Whether Israel can force Jordan to renege on its commitment remains to be seen.

Israeli Settlers

People living in Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories generally oppose annexation plans. Even though many of these settlements would become part of Israel following annexation, settlers fear the plan does not go far enough and would create momentum for the establishment of a small, fragmented Palestinian state, which they categorically oppose.

Billboards along Israeli highways feature Hebrew slogans urging Netanyahu to “do it right,” calling on him to annex all of what remains of Palestinian land. While annexation of more land than included in the Trump “peace plan” would be controversial, it would be no more illegal than Israel’s current plans.

Palestinians

For Palestinians, especially those living in the occupied territories, annexation is simply an inevitable reality. “These areas are already [as good as] annexed… It’s all in their hands” a farmer in the West Bank told the BBC. But many Palestinians see the looming annexation as the logical next step in the decades-long Israeli encroachment on Palestinian territory.

Israel has intensified evictions of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and locals see annexation as inevitable. “Everyone is scared about annexation, no one wants to live under the occupation’s law,” Palestinian activist Sami Hureini told Al Jazeera, as locals appear to have no illusions over Israeli intentions.

The UN

On June 24, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined in the growing chorus of voices opposing annexation rhetorically. “We are at a watershed moment,” Guterres told the UN Security Council (UNSC), saying, “If implemented, annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law.”

But the head of the UN is as powerless to stop Israel as those living in the occupied territories. As long as Israel proceeds with the blessing of the US, international law is of little consequence.  The power of the US alone could prevent any strong response against annexation.

The crisis over Israeli annexation has revealed once again that we are all living under American hegemony that in practice can supersede international law, the UN, and the will of the rest of the globe. Underneath political posturing, angry letters, and formal diplomacy, all nations continue to tremble at the prospect of angering the US.

Israeli Apartheid-Denier Can Deny No Longer

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In an interview with the Associated Press published on June 24, Benjamin Pogrund stated that Israeli annexation would turn Israel into an apartheid state. “There will be Israeli overlords in an occupied area. And the people over whom they will be ruling will not have basic rights,” Pogrund described the potential future of Israel.

Prolific denier

Benjamin Pogrund was born and raised in South Africa and witnessed its Apartheid-era atrocities firsthand. He became a renowned writer on the topic and fostered friendships with Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe as he wrote on Black issues in the white-ruled South African state.

But while Pogrund strongly opposed Apartheid in South Africa until its fall in the 1990s, in 1997 he moved to Israel and became a prominent denier of the similarities between the two countries’ treatment of their native populations. Not counting those people living in the occupied territories as citizens, Pogrund denied their treatment as apartheid-like.

Like many Israel apologetics, he made the convenient distinction of not counting Israel’s atrocities and racism outside its walls and fences. He authored a 2007 New York Times op-ed highlighting several successful Arab Israeli citizens as evidence for an absence of racial discrimination, while ignoring the people in occupied territories under de-facto Israeli rule.

Cognitive dissonance

Pogrund would, in the same article, deny that Jews and Arabs receive different treatment while also arguing Palestinian refugees could not return because they would become a majority, destroying Israel’s “purpose” of being a Jewish state. Those who called for a boycott on Israel Pogrund would label as antisemitic, while interpreting Israeli acts as a “response to Palestinian terrorism.”

For decades Pogrund has ignored the obvious similarities between both apartheid regimes. He appears to have conveniently ignored that while South Africa was in its last stages of shaking off colonization, Israel is still actively colonizing native land.

He downplayed the wall seperating Israelis from the West Bank as “mainly a wire fence, except in populated areas” that was there “primarily to keep out would-be suicide bombers.” By Pogrund’s definition, if South African whites had chased away the country’s Black population and kept them in occupied areas as does Israel, there would not have been “apartheid.”

After decades of witnessing and opposing South African Apartheid, he has spent the rest of his career making pro-Israeli arguments, similar to those of the South African regime that justified violence against Black citizens, as a logical government response to “violent terrorists.”

Changing definitions

Pogrund opposes annexation because it would undermine the cognitive dissonance that he and many others have applied to the Palestinian people living in the occupied territories. Annexing their land would result in them being considered to be some sort of Israeli citizen, and suddenly their treatment would indeed “count” as apartheid.

“At least it has been a military occupation. Now we are going to put other people under our control and not give them citizenship. That is apartheid. That is an exact mirror of what apartheid was,” Pogrund said.

Pogrund started to have doubts when, in 2018, the Israeli parliament enacted the “Nation State Law.” This defined Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people while downgrading the status of another ethnic group, Arab Israelis. Yet, he frames his opposition not as revulsion with the treatment of local Arabs, but instead fears that it would reduce safety and prosperity for local Jewish Israelis.

Annexation

The increasingly colonial attitude of the Netanyahu government appears to have posed something of an intellectual crisis for Pogrund as he has slowly learned of his own complicity in defending Israeli actions. News about the government’s annexation plans made him unable to write on the topic: “I couldn’t bring myself to do it,” Pogrund said, adding that “quite frankly, I just feel so bleak about it, that it is so stupid and ill-advised and arrogant.”

Pogrund has long been a critic of Israeli treatment of the Palestinians, describing the occupation of the West Bank as “tyrannical,” but has avoided using the word apartheid. He considers the term “a deadly word” that requires “intentionality” and “institutionalization.” That intentionality and institutionalization already exist in the occupied territories, and by annexing these areas, even deniers like Pogrund will no longer be able to refute the obvious.

“Come July 1, if we annex the Jordan Valley and the settlement areas, we are apartheid. Full stop. There’s no question about it,” Pogrund said.

Second Wave of COVID-19 Hits Israel, Palestine

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A dreaded and much talked about second wave of COVID-19 hit Israel and Palestine this week. 

On Wednesday morning, Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed it identified 420 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the largest single day spike in infections since April 22. 

In response to surging case numbers, Israeli authorities reinstated on Wednesday a partial lockdown for the ultra-Orthodox city of Elad in central Israel and several majority ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in the northern city of Tiberias.  

Israel declared Elad and five suburbs of Tiberias “restricted zones,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. A day earlier, Netanyahu gave police the go-ahead to fine anyone failing to wear mandatory face masks.  

The “restricted zones” will be closed to external visitors, except essential service providers and students completing exams, for the next seven days. During that period, gatherings of over 50 people are banned and residents can only leave to receive medical care, complete exams, engage in legal proceedings, attend funerals of close relatives, or work.  

There are concerns from residents in the newly restricted zones that the move will do little to slow transmission but rather harm the local economy and stigmatize their community.   

“This is not a real lockdown, you can enter, you can do whatever, this lockdown just hurts businesses and people and nobody cares,” an Elad resident told the Times of Israel on June 23.

The ultra-Orthodox community in Israel has been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Around 14% of new cases this week came from just five mainly ultra-Orthodox areas, a COVID-19 military task force said on Wednesday. 

 More broadly, ultra-Orthodox patients account for 20% of Israel’s total number of active COVID-19 cases, while only constituting around 12% of the population — a phenomenon put down to close living conditions and the community’s interconnectedness. 

Fresh virus worries for Palestine 

Meanwhile, Palestine is also experiencing an uptick in new virus numbers. On June 24, Palestinian Authority (PA) Health Minister Mai Alkaila announced 142 new cases had been confirmed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,517. 

The majority, 1,311 of Palestine’s total active cases, are centred around the West Bank. This prompted the PA to place the city of Hebron under lockdown.  

On June 20, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh ordered a five-day lockdown of Hebron Governorate and a 48-hour complete shutdown of Nablus city, another COVID-19 hotspot. Only essential services are allowed to operate under the fresh wave of restrictions in Hebron, and public gatherings have been banned in all West Bank governorates.  

“There is no longer any room for tolerance in the matter. The safety procedures are very simple: compliance with COVID-19 social distancing orders, and the use of a facemask in markets, public places, workplace and others. This is a compulsory measure that all citizens have to abide by,” Shtayyeh said.

Read also: UAE Diplomat: Israel Annexation Could Reverse Gains for Middle East Peace

 

 

UAE Diplomat: Israel Annexation Could Reverse Gains for Middle East Peace

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As ultranationalists within the Israeli government continue to push for annexation within the West Bank, the Middle East is confronted with the potential erasure of decades of peacebuilding. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s United States maintains its support for Israel’s expansionist agenda, breaking with previous administrations’ commitment to a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

Since the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first entertained the idea of expansion into the West Bank, there has been a widespread outpouring of sympathy towards the Palestinian struggle. 

One individual in particular has made international headlines in their effort to discourage Israel’s plans. On June 12, Yousef Al Otaiba—the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United States—wrote an op-ed in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth calling on Israelis to oppose Netanyahu’s plans for annexation.

Trump And Netanyahu
US President Donald Trump with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiling the details of Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

The op-ed, written in Hebrew in an attempt to speak directly to the Israeli people, appealing to the desire to end the conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Otaiba, as a representative of the UAE, argued that annexation could shatter any opportunity for a peaceful solution to the conflict, and that it would throw regional stability into disarray.

Otaiba was not alone. Activists and politicians from around the world have condemned Netanyahu’s plans, placing increasing pressure on the prime minister to concede.

Whether or not Netanyahu will bow to this international pressure remains to be seen; however, with such high stakes, it is apparent that Israel’s response will greatly shape the future of the Middle East. 

With or without annexation, the questions remain as to what Netanyahu envisions for Israel and whether Israel is willing to sacrifice decades of dialogue for more land in the West Bank.

The future for the West Bank

Though the government of Netanyahu tends to use the euphemism “extending Israeli sovereignty,” the Israeli government’s agenda for the settlements of Judea, Samaria, and others in the West Bank is nothing short of annexation.

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PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu points to a map of the Jordan Valley
(photo credit: YOSSI ZELIGER)

The Israeli annexation proposal targets dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as well as almost all of the Jordan Valley. Collectively, this would lead to the annexation of more than one-third of the West Bank. Moreover, the acquisition of the Jordan Valley would cut off Palestine from its border with Jordan, separating the two countries with a buffer zone of more than 1,000 kilometers.

However, annexation is no insignificant matter; rather, annexation is incredibly rare and is always met with backlash and widespread opposition.

As far in the past as 1917—amidst the bloodshed of the First World War—Lassa Oppenheim, a renowned scholar of international law, remarked that: “There is not an atom of sovereignty in the authority of the occupying power.”

International law continues to enshrine these sentiments over a century after they were first uttered. To this day, the United Nations strictly forbids annexation.

When Iraq under Saddam Hussein attempted to annex Kuwait in 1990, it was met with months of widespread international condemnation, coalescing in the US-led invasion of the country. 

When Russia under Vladimir Putin annexed the Crimea peninsula in 2014, there was a near-universal outpouring of criticism and demands that the territory be returned.

Now, Israel’s designs to annex large swaths of the West Bank have threatened to put an end to ongoing peacebuilding efforts between Israel and the Arab world. In response, Israel has been met with condemnation from around the world, most prominently from within the Middle East.

A different approach

Ambassador Otaiba’s op-ed posits that Israel’s next steps will decide the future for Israeli-Arab relations in the Middle East. He contends that whether or not Israel succumbs to ultranationalist pressure and continues with annexation plans will decide how the Arab world will proceed with peace efforts.

“In the UAE and across much of the Arab world, we would like to believe Israel is an opportunity, not an enemy. We face too many common dangers and see the great potential of warmer ties,” Otaiba wrote.

“Israel’s decision on annexation will be an unmistakable signal of whether it sees it the same way.”

Otaiba’s statement also appeals to the common enemies of both Israel and the Arab world. Climate change, terrorism, food security, and access to clean water, Otaiba contends, are shared interests between Israel and the Arab World, ones that must be addressed collectively rather than individually.

In particular, Otaiba argues that the UAE and Israel, as two of the most powerful and influential countries in the Middle East, have the combined ability to change the region for the better.

“As the two most advanced and diversified economies in the region, expanded business and financial ties could accelerate growth and stability across the Middle East,” Otaiba wrote.

“Our shared interests around climate change, water and food security, technology and advanced science could spur greater innovation and collaboration.”

Unlike previous attempts at voicing grievances with Israel’s agenda, Otaiba decided to speak not to the Palestinian people, but to the Israeli people. In Hebrew, Otaiba promotes the concept that Israel and the Arab world have the opportunity to work together, but that any annexation in the West Bank would shatter this opportunity.

Otaiba argues that the UAE, as well as other Arab nations, want to establish relations with Israel, but he also points out that the annexation plan would become an obstacle to this.

Although Otaiba has garnered much support through his writing, he has also attracted many critics, including several of the more militant factions vying for Palestinian liberation.

The militant mindset

Thus far, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization have been the most vocal critics of Otaiba’s approach. In particular, the groups accused Otaiba and the UAE of violating the Arab Peace Initiative and of conceding too much to Israel.

Some have also referenced Otaiba’s relationship with the Trump administration as an explanation for non-belligerence towards Israel. As ambassador, Otaiba has been a close ally to Jared Kusher, who drafted the Middle East Peace Plan that established US support for Israel’s intentions to annex territory in the West Bank.

Among other grievances, many critics feel as though Otaiba’s warnings were insufficient, especially due to Otaiba’s avoidance of hostile language against Israel.

However, this was ultimately the purpose of Otaiba’s letter. Rather than resort to condemnation, Otaiba wanted to convince the Israeli people that it is in their interests and in the interests of the Arab world to avoid annexation in the West Bank in order to preserve decades of peace talks and negotiation.

 

Read also: Israel’s Supreme Court Strikes Down Law to Legalize Settlements

Universal Music Group Expands MENA Operations

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Universal Music Group (UMG) announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its global network operating in over 60 countries to include two new offices in the MENA region, becoming the first major music label to establish offices in Morocco and Israel. 

UMG is the world’s leading music company and is home to some of the largest and most famous labels and brands in the world. Included in UMG’s repertoire are Abbey Road Studios, Capital Music Group, and EMI. 

Artists represented by UMG include The Rolling Stones, Kanye West, Queen, Nicki Minaj, Arianna Grande, Nirvana, and Bon Jovi. The depth of experience, marketing opportunities, and networks that the UMG brand will share with local artists could be transformative for the music scenes in Morocco and Israel. 

UMG in Morocco

The company’s Moroccan office is based in Casablanca and will work to ensure that North African artists have exposure to the global market. The office will also develop creative and commercial partnerships and work with Universal Music France (UMF) on key projects. 

UMF already represents a number of French-language artists from the region, including Algerian rapper Soolking and Moroccan rapper Issam. 

Announcing the new offices UMG’s MENA region CEO Patrick Boulos said, “within Morocco and their immediate neighbors, there is a wealth of untapped artist talent and we are excited to introduce these unique sounds to global audiences, platforms and partners.” 

UMG has identified traditional Arabic music and rap music front the Maghreb as core focus areas for the new office. 

UMG in Israel 

In Israel, UMG will be based in Tel Aviv. Incoming UMG Israel CEO Yokam Mokady has big plans for the new office, outlining that “UMG will look to identify, sign and develop the best domestic artist talent.” 

Both offices will work closely with UMG’s regional headquarters in Dubai.

Is this Self-Cleaning Mask the Future of PPE?

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A reusable, rechargeable mask that uses heat to kill traces of the virus could be a game-changer in the COVID-19 personal protection market, Israeli researchers say. 

Many countries around the world have made mask-wearing mandatory in the wake of COVID-19, leading to an uptick in the use and disposal of cheap but unsustainable masks.                                                              

Israeli researchers, concerned about the environmental impact of face-masks, say they have come up with the perfect solution and created a rechargeable mask that uses heat to kill germs and can be used over, and over again. 

Technion University’s lead researcher Professor Yair Ein-Eli says he hopes the new self-cleaning mask will save lives and the environment.  

“The medical world was always  moving towards non-reusable or disposable but when you have a crisis that you need five billion masks in 2020, in 2021 worldwide, five billion, you have to realise that this is not economic or environmentally friendly. Not at all,” Ein-Eli explained.   

“You have to make it reusable and friendly and this is our solution,” the inventor said.  

The prototype looks like a standard N95 face mask but has an in-built layer of carbon fibres that, when plugged in to a USB port, heat to 70 degrees Celsius.  

The heat is enough to kill the virus and disinfect the mask, and is too hot for it to be worn during the 30 minute disinfection process, the research team warns. The freshly disinfected mask is then ready to protect the user from COVID-19 and other airborne diseases.   

The Israeli researchers submitted a US patent in late March, while still in talks with the private sector, expect the auto-cleaning masks will retail at around $1 more than your regular disposable face mask. 

Read also: Cheap Steroid Emerges as Front-runner in COVID-19 Drug Trial 

 

Greek PM Travels to Israel to Talk Turkey, Tourism, Energy

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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, flanked by six ministers, touched down in Tel Aviv airport Tuesday morning for a high-level visit to Israel. 

The Greek PM’s first port of call was a meeting with his Israeli counterpart Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The pair discussed how to get Greek-Israeli tourism back on track post-COVID-19.  

After the meeting, Netanyahu announced Israel will aim to allow tourists to return from Greece and Cyprus to Israel without going through quarantine from August 1. The exact start date will, however, depend on the COVID-19 situation in the countries concerned.  

“Over a million Israelis go to Greece every year,” Netanyahu said in a press conference after the meeting on June 16. “This is an expression of Israelis’ love for Greece.”  

Ahead of the meeting, Mitsotakis said he was confident Israel-Greece flights would soon resume, and said in the press conference, “We are working hard to ensure tourists are safe.” 

Greece is heavily reliant on external visitation, with tourism accounting for approximately 25-30% of the country’s GDP, and is working to sell itself as a safe post-COVID-19 tourism destination.  

“A lot will depend on whether people feel comfortable to travel and whether we can project Greece as a safe destination,” Mitsotakis acknowledged. 

Tourism, annexation, and energy 

While there is no doubt Greece and Cyprus are top tourism destinations for Israeli travelers, it appears Netanyahu’s willingness to restart tourism is more about winning Greek support for its annexation plans currently causing friction with the European Union.  

The EU says Israel’s West Bank and Jordan Valley annexation plans cannot “pass unchallenged,” while the US accepts them under President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century” Middle East peace plan. 

“We expect Greece to be an anchor of support for us in the [European] Union,” Israel’s Ambassador to Athens, Yossi Amrani, told Israel’s Army Radio on Monday ahead of the Greek Prime Minister’s visit. 

Other diplomatic sources told the Jerusalem Post that Israel does not expect Greece to change its position on annexation, but may help to soften the EU’s attitude towards Israel and block proposed economic sanctions.  

“Greece is not militant and we expect them to help us,” the anonymous diplomatic source said. “We want the EU to have a dialogue with us and not sanctions or declarations threatening to punish us.”

In addition to annexation and the peace plan, Israel’s agenda for the fourth Israeli-Greek meeting includes “energy and the EastMed [gas pipeline]” and “stability in the Middle East with an emphasis on Iran and Lebanon,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Iris Ambor said on Monday. 

Greek priorities 

For his part, the Greek PM is keen to discuss Turkish aggression in the Mediterranean, which he labeled “blatant provocations.” 

“We discussed this matter extensively,” Mitsotakis told the media after his Tuesday morning meeting with Netanyahu. “We discussed the instability Turkey is causing, including in its actions in Libya.” 

Turkey is also a diplomatic thorn-in-the-side and security threat to Greek-Israeli-Cypriot energy cooperation on projects like the EastMed pipeline. 

In December 2019, Ankara concluded a maritime agreement with Libya’s Government of National Accord, which it backs militarily in the Libyan civil war, enabling it to lay claim to a massive swathe of the Eastern Mediterranean. The claim totally ignores established Greek and Cypriot territorial claims, but Turkey maintains the move is within its rights.   

Greece has vocally opposed long-time foe Turkey’s hostile territory grab and defended the EastMed cooperation, stating it “is not directed against nor exclusive of anyone.” 

“Turkey is welcome to give up on its imperialistic pipeline dreams and cooperate with us as an equal and law-abiding partners – not as the neighborhood bully,” Mitsotakis told Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Tuesday. 

The Greek delegation includes the ministers for defense, foreign affairs, tourism, energy, environmental protection and water, and development and investments.  

Israel’s Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Greek contemporary Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos have been in talks over defense cooperation. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Greek FM Nikos Dendias signed off on agreements to increase cybersecurity, energy, agriculture, and tourism cooperation.

Read also: Israel’s Supreme Court Strikes Down Law to Legalize Settlements

 

EU Human Rights Court Rules in Favor of BDS Movement

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France has violated the freedom of expression of activists of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement (BDS) that aims to protest Israeli apartheid. The ruling is significant as the EU is seeing increasing repression of pro-Palestinian activism, which Israeli lobbyists paint as antisemitic.

French courts had earlier convicted the protesters of “incitement to economic discrimination” after a group of eleven protesters held a demonstration at a supermarket in the small town of Illzach in 2009.

The protesters had handed out leaflets calling for a boycott of Israeli products which French courts, including its top court, upheld as a crime and sentenced each member to pay a €1,000 fine.

Court ruling

The European Court of Human Rights (EHCR) then took the case as “Baldassi and Others v. France,” named after Jean-Michel Baldassi, the leader of the small group of protesters.

On Thursday, June 11, the EHCR unanimously found (PDF) that “incitement to differential treatment is not necessarily the same as incitement to discrimination” and that French courts had violated the protesters’ right of freedom of expression established in article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

After eleven years of ongoing court cases, the EHCR ruled that France must pay each protester €380 to compensate for loss of income due to the court cases, €7,000 for non-quantifiable damages, and €20,000 jointly to cover costs and expenses inflicted on the protesters in their eleven-year legal battle.

BDS response

Rita Ahmad of the Palestinian-led BDS movement said about the ruling: “This is a major legal blow to Israel’s apartheid regime and its anti-BDS lawfare. At Israel’s behest, European governments, especially in France and Germany, have fostered an ominous environment of bullying and repression to silence Palestine solidarity activists.”

Ahmad highlighted the link between Black Lives Matter protests in the US and the BDS movement’s anti-colonial position, saying “at a time when European citizens, inspired by the Black Lives Matter uprising in the US, are challenging the ugly legacy of European colonialism, France, Germany and other EU countries must end their racist repression of human rights defenders campaigning for Palestinian human rights and for an end to Israeli apartheid.”

Ahmad also emphasized the role of European silence on Israeli human rights and international law violations. “Europe is deeply complicit in Israel’s occupation, siege of Gaza and slow ethnic cleansing of Indigenous Palestinians.” She promised further activism in Europe, saying that “for as long as this complicity continues, BDS campaigns will too.”

Israel’s Supreme Court Strikes Down Law to Legalize Settlements

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On Wednesday, June 10, the Israeli Supreme Court decided to block its 2007 Settlement Regulation Law, intended to legalize settlement houses built on privately-owned Palestinian land. By a vote of eight to one, the country’s highest court ended the measure that had been frozen since its introduction in 2017.

Blocked law

The measure would have legalized roughly 4,000 buildings constructed on land owned by Palesinians but was blocked because it “unequally infringes on the property rights of Palestinian residents while giving preference to the proprietary interests of Israeli settlers,” Chief Justice Esther Hayut stated.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party called the ruling “unfortunate,” saying the law that was ruled unconstitutional was in fact “an important law for settlement activity and its future.”

But the ruling could become null and void within a month, Likud-aligned newspaper Israel Hayom revealed on June 10 in an article titled “Home stretch: Sovereignty to bring good tidings to homeowners in Judea and Samaria.”

Annexation plans proceeding

According to the newspaper, some 100,000 settlers will soon be able to “complete the transfer of ownership rights.” Settlers will be able to freely register their currently illegal properties at Israel’s Land Registration Office, if or when Israel breaks with international law and annexes parts of the West Bank in July.

On Sunday, June 7, Netanyahu met with settlers to discuss his annexation plans. He told settlers that the plans are going ahead as intended.

Settlers in the West Bank are pushing Netanyahu to produce an even broader annexation plan as they strenuously oppose the formation of a Palestinian state, even if that state would only consist of some disparate fragments of land surrounded by newly conquered Israeli territory.

Netanyahu reassured settlers by saying that even if such a state established itself diplomatically, through the “Trump peace plan,” he would not recognize or treat the independent state as such.

Green light

Meanwhile, the US and Israel are both avoiding responsibility for giving the “green light” for the move, which is blatantly illegal under international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

At his meeting with settlers on Monday, Netanyahu stated that he has not yet received the green light from the US, but statements from the US ambassador to Israel contradict the need for any such signal.

David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel had earlier said: “We are not declaring sovereignty – the government of Israel has to declare sovereignty. And then we’re prepared to recognise it… So, you have to go first,” indicating that the international speculation over a “green light” appears to be nothing but a distraction from the planned invasion of Palestinian territory in the West Bank.

David Alhayani, head of the Settlement Council that represents settlers on occupied Palestinian land, stated that Trump is supporting annexation plans in order to help him win the November presidential elections in the United States. “The only thing they are concerned about regarding the plan is promoting their own interests ahead of the upcoming election,” Alhayani stressed.

In another green light to the Israeli annexation plans, Germany’s foreign minister has arrived in Jerusalem in order to “discourage” Israel. However, the diplomat has already indicated that his country’s “fierce opposition” does not mean he offers any threats or repercussions for Israel if they do decide to invade the West Bank.

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