Jerusalem scrambles as European states move to upgrade ties with Palestinians

[shaayecanaan]

Reports indicate Palestinians urging about a dozen EU states to upgrade the PA's diplomatic status; Israel orders envoys abroad to take 'urgent' action against Palestinian efforts at UN.

"After reports reached Jerusalem that the Palestinian Authority is trying to persuade about a dozen European Union member states to upgrade the PA's diplomatic status, the Foreign Ministry on Monday ordered every Israeli envoy abroad to begin "urgent" diplomatic activity. The aim is to thwart Palestinian efforts at drafting a United Nations resolution that would recognize a unilateral declaration of statehood and put international pressure on Israel to halt settlement construction.

Acting Foreign Ministry Director General Rafael Barak sent a classified cable to Israeli charges d'affairs, in which he called for an immediate public relations campaign at the bureaus of the premiers, foreign ministers and parliament in each country.

The PA is in the midst of three diplomatic activities aimed at the international community, Barak wrote in the cable: advancing a UN Security Council resolution condemning settlement construction, securing international recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, and improving the diplomatic stance of Palestinian representatives in Europe, East Asia and Latin America."

more: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/jerusalem-scrambles-as-european-states-move-to-upgrade-ties-with-palestinians-1.331706


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[bemildred]

1. Well, it's pretty clear the Israeli government isn't going to do anything by itself. nt

[azurnoir]

2. Not true why they're willing to talk about it

for ever as long as it takes..............

[shaayecanaan]

10. For ever, if need be

that's how committed they are to peace.

[azurnoir]

11. That's right with that level of commitment Israel should be

commended, especially when you consider that after the Oslo agreement Israel had to settle for a mere 62% of the WB a pittance at best, what could Israel possibly be thinking doing this?

[Violet_Crumble]

3. When it comes to a PR campaign, they need the help of Stand With Us and their Talking Points...

I've got the new talking point all handcrafted for them to add to their useful pdf I found full of talking points. It'd read:

POINT: Calls for the destruction of Israel. Countries that officially recognise a Palestinian state are antisemitic and using clever code to call for the destruction of Israel. For every South American country that recognises Palestine, 2,589 suicide bombers come into being, all headed for what little is left of Israel.

Here's the current ones I found. They can be printed off easily on one A4 sheet and carried around to reference when posting on anti-Israel forums like this one and when trying to fend off bullying anti-Israel college students on campus. Armed with our talking points we can smack down the evil forces of darkness and there's not one single foreign diplomat who won't disolve into tears of compassion on hearing our Talking Points. They'll instantly gain a deep and enduring love of all things Israel (including annoying Israeli salespeople in pre-christmas shopping malls spruiking skin-care products onto unsuspecting office workers) and will shout down any neighbouring countries attempts to committ the unspeakable horror of officially recognising Palestine!

KNOW THESE POINTS ABOUT ISRAEL.

Use them in your conversations about the Arab- Israeli conflict.

POINT : Israel’s size is 1/6 of 1% of the Arab World.
POINT : Israel has 1,300,000 Israeli -Arab citizens, who are 20% of its population.Israel also officially recognizes and gives privileges to 15 different religions.
POINT : Palestinian Arabs living in the territories are not citizens of Israel.
POINT : There was no Security Fence along the West Bank prior to the relentless violence in 2002, and since it was built, terrorism has dropped by 85%
POINT : Israel wants peace and is willing to make painful compromises by giving away land as it did for peace with Egypt and Jordan. Today it is unilaterally withdrawing from Gaza.
POINT : Where is the money? Arafat was given billions of dollars to improve living conditions for the Palestinians. He did not build schools, roads or hospitals. He
did not improve housing or sewage systems. Those billions are missing. The 20 million dollars a year promised to Arafat’s widow in Paris comes from the coffers of the PA. Why?
POINT : Peace Must Be Taught The PA must immediately change the message being taught by its clerics who call for the murder of Jews and by its teachers who deny
Israel’s right to exist. PA schoolbooks must promote peace, not hatred.
POINT : The PA Charter Must be Changed. It still calls for the destruction of Israel, just as the Hamas Charter does.
POINT : Israel is a reestablishment of the Jewish State Jews have lived in and identified with this land for thousands of years. The Old Testament, New Testament and
Koran all refer to this area as the land of the Jews. Even if one is not religious, these old documents are another way to show that Jews are indigenous to Israel and the surrounding area.
POINT : The Definition of Zionism : If you believe that Jews have a right to selfdetermination and to their own country in the area that is ancient Israel where they
have maintained a presence for thousands of years, then you are a Zionist. Most Jews are Zionists, as are many non-Jews.

Produced by StandWithUs

http://www.standwithus.com/pdfs/flyers/Israel_points_small.pdf

[oberliner]

5. Easy on the bolding and giant font

A simple link to the site would have sufficed.

[azurnoir]

6. thank you so much n/t

[oberliner]

4. What does that even mean?

Are you talking about unilateral steps?

[bemildred]

7. I'm sorry, nothing personal, but I'm not interested in that line of discussion right now.

I'm just pointing out that a vigorous Palestinian entity of whatever sort right next door is not going to serve the short-term interests of Israel, it's going to be expensive to bring about, politically and in other ways, and after 62 years I have to think that what you see is what you are going to get without outside pressure and guarantees and so on. Think "Gaza Withdrawal" on steroids.

[oberliner]

8. No worries

I just wasn't sure what you were saying. You've clarified and now I get your point.

[bemildred]

9. OK.

I sort of agree that "unilateral" won't do much, for either "side" mind you, though it's always nice to think people will try to do the right thing.