the EU catches Israel off-guard regarding its illegal settlements

[Hudson Jones]

World opinion is changing towards the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. It's no longer about saying that the Israeli settlements are illegal. Countries around the world are now taking steps to show their stance on this issue. This was demonstrated again this week as the EU announced a new policy towards doing business with Israeli companies and their link/association with the illegal settlements.

This formal binding policy by the EU is a major step towards the legitimization and the establishment of a Palestinian State, while marginalizing one of the biggest obstacles towards a just peace, the illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory.

Any Israeli entity seeking funding from or cooperation with the European Union will have to submit a declaration stating that the entity has no direct or indirect links to the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, according to the new EU guidelines.

The guidelines, which condition all future agreements on Jerusalem's acknowledgement that its occupied territories are not part of Israel, have strained relations with the EU to unprecedented level.

Link

Netanyahu's response:

Israel will not tolerate external edicts on our borders; New guidelines stipulate Israel must acknowledge East Jerusalem, West Bank and Golan as occupied territories before any future agreements signed with member states.

Link

Sounds like Netanyahu is confident where Israel's borders are.

[Moonlight Graham]

Can't stand those creeping illegal Israeli settlements. EU has some balls on this one.

But I can't read the article without registering on the site, since when has Haaretz been doing this? Really can't stand online newspapers that make me pay ...I wish I could poke these paid subscribers who are supporting this pay model!

[Hudson Jones]

But I can't read the article without registering on the site, since when has Haaretz been doing this? Really can't stand online newspapers that make me pay ...I wish I could poke these paid subscribers who are supporting this pay model!

You can pay $1/month to access everything or register and get 10 locked articles a month.

[GostHacked]

You can pay $1/month to access everything or register and get 10 locked articles a month.

I am against paying for information aside from buying books.

But I agree this is a good move to put some political pressure on Israel to comply with the long standing notion that the settlements need to be abandoned, and they are not helping the peace process. Regardless of the threat the Israeli population feels they are under, this would be a good move towards some kind of peace.

The settlements are not popular in the rest of the world and is a thorn in the peace process.

[Jerry J. Fortin]

I see this as a case of a nation not withdrawing from lands seized in armed conflict. One point worth mentioning is that the land was captured in response to an unprovoked military assault and held as a security measure. Those conflicts were resolved without an agreement to return the captured lands, this of itself provides all the legal means by international law.

Of course laws can be changed but there is a reality to be considered here. It is not mere dates and facts to be brought into question.....all these events have transpired to bring us to now.

What nation on this earth can be expected to have its internal affairs mandated by the UN? What nation on earth would bow to the will of the UN? This entire argument is absurd, it is not rational. At best the world needs to consider that any conflict in Israel would be an internal one and be declared as a civil war. Until once again a nation attacks Israel and a war will again follow, Chances are that once again Israel will capture more territory, and the cycle will continue.

The only "fix" is to settle the Palestinians as citizens of Israel within the occupied territories and avoid military use altogether. That done democracy rules................

[jacee]

I see this as a case of a nation not withdrawing from lands seized in armed conflict. One point worth mentioning is that the land was captured in response to an unprovoked military assault and held as a security measure. Those conflicts were resolved without an agreement to return the captured lands, this of itself provides all the legal means by international law.

Of course laws can be changed but there is a reality to be considered here. It is not mere dates and facts to be brought into question.....all these events have transpired to bring us to now.

The settlements are illegal.

What nation on this earth can be expected to have its internal affairs mandated by the UN? What nation on earth would bow to the will of the UN? This entire argument is absurd, it is not rational.

You have the facts wrong. This is simply a business matter. The EU (not the UN) is simply saying they won't do business with companies from the illegal settlements.

That's their perogative.

[GostHacked]

You have the facts wrong. This is simply a business matter. The EU (not the UN) is simply saying they won't do business with companies from the illegal settlements.

That's their perogative.

So my term 'political pressure' is not accurate then. Monetary/trade pressure. That should speak louder and have more impact than any political pressure.

[DogOnPorch]

The settlements are illegal.

You have the facts wrong. This is simply a business matter. The EU (not the UN) is simply saying they won't do business with companies from the illegal settlements.

That's their perogative.

Yet the EU will be more than happy to continue doing business with the Socialist Republic of Viet-Nam. They got their "illegal settlements" fair n' square, apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_413

[Hudson Jones]

The Israeli government is now working overtime to postpone and prevent this policy from going into effect on Friday.

Netanyahu to ask EU leaders: Help postpone EU guidelines on Israeli settlements

EU's decision is a serious one for Israel. The current Israeli government, which counts on the settlers to stay in power, has been quite aggressive in expanding the illegal settlements. However, EU's move has, at least, done this:

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon delays approval of West Bank settlement construction

Former Israeli prime minister, who is considered a 'dove' in Israeli standards, made some interesting comments:

"We can't maintain the diplomatic stalemate and believe the whole world will be fine with that."

"We hear the country is in conflict with the European Union; this conflict includes a decision made by the EU that could have grave consequences for the Israeli society, market and economy."

"I hear panic in Jerusalem and I ask myself 'how can it be that those behind the wheel can be so disconnected… all those who were taken by surprise should know that ten years ago the Israeli government signed a deal with the European Union by which Israel was obligated to mark all products manufactured in Judea and Samaria and Gaza. None of this is new.

"The European Union does not recognize these territories as part of Israel," the former prime minister added, "and now the government is appalled when the EU is taking it one step further… The international community is displeased with the stalemate."

He stressed that what he saw to be at the top of the State's priorities was immediate start of "peace negotiation… in full force and with willingness to make painful and dramatic compromises that will dramatically change the Middle East."

As mentioned above, if this policy is implemented on Friday, there will be major economic pressure on Israel:

Meanwhile, the Science Ministry is checking which groups and institutions stand to suffer from the EU's decision. Science Minister Yakov Peri estimated on Tuesday that some 40% of Israeli institutions' budgets will be affected.

Ministry officials explained Wednesday that all universities whose studies involve any element beyond the Green Line stand to suffer. "In fact, the decision sets a clear political border to any academic institute in Israel and prevents them from collaborating with researchers, institutes, and even statistical data from beyond the Green Line."

Link

[Hudson Jones]

The United States has not condemned the EU sanctions against the illegal Israeli settlements. This should be considered to be another "earthquake" as an Israeli official has said, about the EU decision.

WASHINGTON – The State Department declined to issue a rebuke of the European Union for its new regulations barring member nations from cooperating with Israeli organizations and businesses operating in east Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.

“The US position on settlements is clear and has not changed,” a State Department spokesman told The Jerusalem Post, referring questions on the details of the decision to European officials.“We do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity.”

The US instead reinforced its position on settlement building in the territories.

[Rue]

First off this issue is far from new. Since 1998 the EEC has been stating it does not consider any product from the West Bank Israeli for the purposes of the trade agreement between the 2.

The sudden notice of this by the H Jones anti Israel propoganda site is par for the course. Whenever any quote comes on the news which appears anti Israel the H Jones site quotes it and out come the quotes from articles this site thinks delegitimize Israel's right to exist.

For those of us who have followed the complex relationship between Europe and Israel we realize European criticism of Israel's existence is not new at all.

Psychoanalysts have written how Europe has a complex approach to Jews deeply tied to the holocaust. For the most part Europe was able to carry out the holocaust because of collaboration of many Europeans from many states assisting Germany set up and ship Jews from all parts of Europe to gas chambers.

It harbours to this day a collective denial of the holocaust. It sees the Jews of the holocaust for the most part as passive Jews but the Jews of Israel as Jews who do not know their place.

To Israel and its Jews Europe is in no position to lecture it. Israel was created for the most part by Jews fleeing Europeans and their hatred. Jews and their link to Israel goes back 3,000 years but the countries France and Britain created were nothing but puppet monarchies to prop control up of the regions to gain access to oil. Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Libya, Morrocco, Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon all colonial puppets of Europe when Israel

refused to be a puppet.

For Britain to have anything to say to Israel is a joke. This is a country that frauduelently gained the right to administer the Middle East under a League of Nations Mandate, promising to set up a Jewish state and then seized 80% of the land earmarked for a Jewish state and set up a Palestinian state that prohibited citizenship or entry to Jews-Jordan. It then created an immigration policy that flooded Palestine in the 1920's through 1940's to prevent Jews from becoming a majority in Palestine and in so doing displaced the true Palestinian Muslims by other Muslims and those other Muslims today claim to have been Palestinian when they are just as much outsiders as any Jew who came from Europe.

France out and out lied to Prince Faisal who signed a peace treaty with Jewish Zionists int he early 1920's. Prince Faisal agreed to a Muslim and Jewish state living side by side. Had his vision passed, Israel would have remained a Switzerland of the Middle East with no need for an army. Instead whn the French realized an Jewish Arab alliance would make control by Britain and France impossible they lied telling Faisal Zionists would double cross him.

Faisal fell for it, ripped up his treaty and the very next day was arrested and shipped off out of Damascus and the French created colonies in Syria and Lebanon and divided up the Middle East with the British creating puppet monarchies in Iraq and Jordan.

Later Nazi Germany would prop up and be the models for the states of Egypt, Syria and Iraq and Britain would fly the Egyptian Air Force planes and lead

the Jordanian Army in a war commenced by the Arab League of Nations to try wipe out the Jews of the Middle East.

In fact right before that war, Britain was being called to the League of Nations to be accused of illegally creating Jordan and was able to preempt that

meeting.

So where was Europe when the Jews of the Middle East were attacked? Where were they and the rest of the UN when Jews were facing mass murder?

They remained silent. The very nations that forced these Jews out illegally seizing their property and killing 6 million of them remained silent and now their predecessors think they are in a moral place to tell Israel anything?

Anti-semitism has always existed and will always exist in Europe.

Today's version is injected with the new blood of the Muslim population that settled in Europe and ironically the white supremacist anti semites and Muslims when not battling each other enjoy sharing and circulating copies Protocols of the Elders of Zion .

Today's European anti-semitism sees the merging of the extreme views of the right and left. t

Today its easy to demonize Jews in Europe. You use the technique H Jones does. You couch the word Jew with Zionist before the word Jew.

You can utter the same old anti semitic stereotypes and hated but by putting the word "Zionist" before the word jew, its acceptable.

The tune is predictable and its spewed by H Jones and other sites. Israel a state that rose from the ashes of the most extreme form of hatred against a people is now revised. It did not arise from combating and refusing to given in to European anti-semitism as it actually did, but in the new version of anti-semitism the victims of colonialism are typified as a "colonial power" that has "robbed" people of their land, and is an "artificial State".

Never mind Palestinians never were even referred to by themselves as that until 1967. Never mind there was never any Palestinian state that was

taken away because none ever existed. Never mind Jordan in effect was created as a Jew free Palestinian state offering automatic citizenship to any arab referring to himself as a Palestinian as long as he was not a Jew. Never mind that.

Never mind the fact we Jews are indigenous to the land of Palestine and have lived there continuously for over three thousand years while the people who claim we displaced themselves are in fact Arabs who displaced Palestinian Arabs.

Forget all that.

Forget the fact Jordan and Libya, and Iraq were colonial absractions the British drew up in the 1920's.

In today's version of anti-semitism, we ignore the thousands of years of persecution by jews in Europe. We ignore the holocaust. We ignore the fact that today land and property illegally seized by Jews is protected by European states from being repossed by the families of the deceased Jews who had it stolen from them.

Never mind Switzerland sits and has made billions on the interest of the blood money from massacered Jews.

All that is ignored.

In fact Europe has gone back to the same old attitude of anti-semitism that is entrenched in its subconscious which says a Zionist jew is an uppity Jew who does not know his place. How dare a Jew think he can be his own boss, own his own land, express his collective identity. How dare he.

So of course the old European anti-semitism comes head to head and mixes with the new Muslim populations of Eurpe and the anti-semtiism mutates in expression and intensity but its the same old song-Jews do not know their place.

In the 1930s, Jews were accused of not being full members of the country where they lived. They were as they are today accused of being more loyal to Jews then they were any nation they lived in. Today the very notion of the existence of a Jewish collective or state resurrects this notion that jews don't know their place and think they should have the right to be distinct.

There is another deep disturbing trend. For certain Europeans hating Israel and defining Jews as evil whatever the context makes it easier for them to rationalize what their grandparents did in WW2.

How much better to justify Nazi extermination of Jews by now saying jews are no different than Nazis when they come a collective. Its the ultimate example of saying-you are no better than us. You are just as Nazi as we are.

Someone should tell the H Jones sites that surveys taken since the end of WW2 show wide spread resentment against Jews in Europe. Nothing ever changed but this has changed-never again will a European dictate to a jew he or she can not own land,vote, be free. Never again will a European but a jew in a gas chamber, shoot him or her, rape our children, steal our property and preach hatred and incite pogroms against us in the churches.

Never again will a European lecture to a Jew about colonialism and genocide when they have our blood on their hands.

The Europeans can revise their history and feign that they care about Palestinians but they do not. As they all waxed poetic about the oppression of

Palestinians they openly assistaed Yasir Arafat rob billions of foreign aid money and place it in French, German and Swiss Bank accounts.

Britain, France and Germany all sold nerve gas to Iraq and Iran.

Lastly but most importanly countries in Europe who today have benefitted from the stealing and wrongful possession of Jewish property practice the very same laws in their nations they accuse Israel of being racist about. France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, have the exact same nationality laws for their

collective identity as Jews offer Israelis and yet when France or Belgium offers preferential treatment for citizenship to designated ethnics, not a peep when a Jew does it, moral outrage.

Britain? They demanded the IRA disband before they came to the table to talk peace. All fo Europe agreed. Israel/ Uh no. Israel they say should not demand terrorists disband before coming to the peace table. What was good for Britain before it would talk to the IRA is not good for Israel.

In fact as we speak France and Germany refuse to acknowledge Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Europe is in no position to lecture anyone about colonialism, racism, ethnic wars. Europe is primarily to blame for creating artificial

colonial puppet Arab nations who evolved to be Sharia law violent, corupt totalitarian regimes.

Look through the Middle East and the mark of colonialism is rich and entrenched in all these Muslim nations.

In fact the only Middle East nation the Europeans finding themselves having to deal with as an equal is......Israel.

Yah aint that a shame. We Jews are justs so dang uppity now aint we.

Funny though. The Europeans have the exact same problem about Americans and the Americans told Europe long ago

to kiss their ass.

The US single handedly rebuilt Europe under the Monroe doctrine and today France and Gemany stick their nose up at it.

What I also find interesting is the anti Israel nations of Europe originate with all the old EEC nations none of the new ones.

Also interesting to note is the country of Holland. It has always supported Israel. Its criticized Israel strongly but it has never abandon

and always supported Israel's right to exist. To a lesser extent so has Norway and Denmark and King Caros of Spain has always shown

respect to Jews who fled to Israel or feel they need a state. It ends about there.

Britain has a lot to explain. Once it went to Libya and we saw the spectre of the former British Labour PM kissing Ghaddafi's hand to get

the oil lines reopened-it said it all. Watching Italy and France kiss Ghaddafi's ass said it all.

[Hudson Jones]

First off this issue is far from new. Since 1998 the EEC has been stating it does not consider any product from the West Bank Israeli for the purposes of the trade agreement between the 2.

The sudden notice of this by the H Jones anti Israel propoganda site is par for the course. Whenever any quote comes on the news which appears anti Israel the H Jones site quotes it and out come the quotes from articles this site thinks delegitimize Israel's right to exist.

The policy is new, which is supposed to be implemented on Friday. Until now, EU has been accepting business with settlements and Israeli companies who deal with the settlements. So to say that this is nothing new is stupid.

Israeli official are on record saying that they were caught off-guard by this news, which they became aware of less than a couple of weeks ago.

For those of us who have followed the complex relationship between Europe and Israel we realize European criticism of Israel's existence is not new at all.

I'm not sure how you're able to follow anything with your attention span. There is no criticism of Israel's existence. This has to do with the illegal Jewish settlements that are outside of the internationally recognized Israeli border.

The settlements and the annexations are considered to be illegal by the international community, including Canada and U.S. Even the U.S. is unwilling to condemn EU's decision.

The rest of your mumble jumble is not worth reading and answering as you can't even go one paragraph without making things up.

[jbg]

Deleted. I made a remark which, on sober reflection, I should not have made.

Edited July 23, 2013 by jbg

[Hudson Jones]

This policy by the EU is the first major move by Western countries that puts the settlements at centre-stage. It's more than just a statement but something that will actually hurt the settlements and any company who supports the settlements.

If you want to try to brush this off as nothing major, so be it.

The world can no longer sit idle watching the colonialist Zionists get away with what they're doing.

Edited July 19, 2013 by Hudson Jones

[carepov]

World opinion is changing towards the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. It's no longer about saying that the Israeli settlements are illegal. Countries around the world are now taking steps to show their stance on this issue. This was demonstrated again this week as the EU announced a new policy towards doing business with Israeli companies and their link/association with the illegal settlements.

This formal binding policy by the EU is a major step towards the legitimization and the establishment of a Palestinian State, while marginalizing one of the biggest obstacles towards a just peace, the illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory.

...

I try to remain objective but if I had to pick a side I would be anti-Arab. I am definitely against the expansion of Jewish settlements so at first glance I favour this EU policy. Thanks for bringing this issue forward, I especially appreciate the Israeli media sources you link to.

[Hudson Jones]

The guidelines are going forward but the implementation will not happen until 2014.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres failed to convince the EU to freeze the publication on Friday of new guidelines restricting interaction with Israeli entities beyond the pre-1967 lines, EU sources said on Thursday.

However, the sources added, the EU will hold discussions about implementation of the guidelines with Israel. The sources noted that the guidelines will not come into effect until January 1.

...

The EU Commission issued a statement on Thursday saying Barroso “explained the context and the objective of the guidelines.” Barroso said that the guidelines did not represent a shift in the EU position, and the intention was to continue EU-Israel cooperation “within its internationally recognized borders.

Link

[Rue]

The policy is new...

The rest of your mumble jumble is not worth reading and answering as you can't even go one paragraph without making things up.

In regards to your first comment no its not and you once again reflect your ignorance. The policy to not accept goods from the West Bank as being made in Israel has been a hot spot in relations between Israel and the EEC since the mid 19990's. As usual you have no clue what it is you think you are referring to.

The only thing new is the EEC saying it will now turn back such goods in a unified manner. Member nations had been individually turning back goods for years.

Make an effort just a slight effort before you propagate to read what it is you think you talk of.

As for the other comment, it typifies everything miserable about you. You expect people to treat you in a way you will not treat them. You expect people to read your words but you demonstrate you will not read their words.d

This again reflects what a hypocrite you are. You engage in the very practice you criticise others of.

You are so disconnected you engage each and every time you spew out on this forum the kind of intolerant ideology you criticize Israel of and it makes you laughable-so do the automated releases followed by

feverish attempts by script writers to follow them up trying to make them appear spontaneous and non automated.

Take your disinformation desk and automated responses and perform yoga with them.

When you want to identify your true name and stop hiding behind the automated responses I am waiting.

Say did you hear that? The bombs keep getting closer to your building. Has Mr.Assad guaranteed you will still be working next year? Hah.

Kaboom. Its a bitch isn't it, the will of the majority. Real bitch when it catches up with you Mo.

[Hudson Jones]

In regards to your first comment no its not and you once again reflect your ignorance. The policy to not accept goods from the West Bank as being made in Israel has been a hot spot in relations between Israel and the EEC since the mid 19990's. As usual you have no clue what it is you think you are referring to.

Just because they've talked about it, it doesn't mean that the policy was official. The EU has not banned goods from the settlements until now, when the policy was put forward. I don't know why you continuously battle against the truth.

I'd engage in a discussion with you, but when you're unable to get the basics correct and you start out every post with a statement that is not the truth, you make it difficult to have a discussion with you.

[Hudson Jones]

Germany distances itself from the "controversial European Union guidelines" banning cooperation with Israeli entities beyond the Green Line, a foreign policy spokesman in the Bundestag announced on Friday.

In a statement issued by MP Philipp Missfedler, the Bundestag spokesman for German chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party and its coalition partner the Bavarian Christian Social Union, he stated the guidelines are “pure ideology and symbolic politics” and will not contribute to finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Israeli lobby is quite strong in Germany. With Germany's past treatment of Jews, criticism of Israel is right away turned into holocaust shaming. Here is an example:

Jewish organizations such as the Wiesenthal Center and the prominent German-Jewish journalist Henryk M.Broder declared the product labeling measure to be a de-facto boycott of Israeli merchandise, which recalls the Hitler movement’s boycott of Jewish businesses.

Link

[Rue]

Just because they've talked about it, it doesn't mean that the policy was official. The EU has not banned goods from the settlements until now, when the policy was put forward. I don't know why you continuously battle against the truth.

You wouldn't know truth if it hit you in the face. First off truth does not consist of sending automated responses to this forum and feigning being an individual.

Truth?

Look at the nonsense you repeat. The EEC first issued the exact same declaration you try pass off as new back in 1982 when Israel invaded Lebanon and then continuously since especially in May of 1998.

Truth? You know nothing of what you link and automate on this forum.

Go on. Before you tell anyone about truth go find out the economic sanctions the EEC has been placing against Israel since 1982.

Truth lol.

[Charles Anthony]

Guys,

What the double-hockey-sticking-world is wrong with you all?

STOP THE PERSONAL ATTACKS!

If you can not express your commentary without making a personal or ad hominem attack, DO NOT POST anything.

Ch. A.

[Rue]

_{The suggestion that this latest EEC criticism of Israel is new is false.}

_{After Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, the EC Council of Ministers put the 1975 trade agreement between Israel and the EEC on hold and delayed for one year the signing of a financial protocol with Israel that had already been initialed}

_{The European in March of 1988, delayed approving three trade and financial agreements because of Israel’s alleged repression of the intifada and its obstruction of Palestinian exports.}

_{The protocols were later ratified in October 1988, after the EEC felt Israel granted trade concessions to the Palestinians, by agreeing to permit Palestinian products to transit Israeli ports en route to Europe with no Israeli processing or change in certificates of origin.}

_{In February of 1990 the EEC cancelled of the Joint Scientific Committee suspending examination of 15 new proposed projects with Israel and the signing of an energy cooperation.}

_{In January of 1998, the European Commission issued a report, “The Role of the European Union in the Middle East Process and Its Future Assistance to the Middle East”, attacking Israel for its activities on the West Bank.}

_{In fact on May of 1998, the European Commission issued its first policy recommendation calling on the EU to exclude Israeli imports from the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem from preferential trade benefits granted to Israel.}

_{So to do what H Jones does and fabricate this is the first time this has happened and this is a new development for the EEC is absolutely and utterly false.}

_{Now since one poster is impressed with what appear to be links from Israel here is one from http://www.timesofisrael.com/despite-souring-relations-with-israel-europe-not-about-to-boycott-settlement-goods-eu-source-estimates/ and it states among other things:}

_{“European sources say that while a handful of the EU’s 27 member states had individually begun discussing labeling settlement-made products, it was doubtful that the union itself would enforce such a process. Rather, EU foreign ministers voting in Brussels on Monday would merely adopt a series of conclusions that echo resolutions already passed by the European body in May, reiterating that the union considered settlements illegal under international law, “irrespective of recent decisions by the government of Israel.”}

_{Earlier this week, a top EU official said he didn’t see the EU passing “any sanctions at all,” even with relations between Europe and Israel hitting a nadir after Israel last week announced its intention to expand construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.}

_{The crux of the issue has been the government’s declaration of plans to build in the E1 corridor, a strip of land connecting the capital to the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement to the east, which is seen by some as vital to maintaining a contiguous Palestinian territory in the West Bank…..”}

[carepov]

_{The suggestion that this latest EEC criticism of Israel is new is false.}

No one has suggested that European criticism of Israel is new. However this specific EU policy focussing specifically on settlement expansions looks new to me, as per the headline:

"EU’s new policy on Israeli settlements: The full guidelines"

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.536155"

also: http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/EU-officially-publishes-settlement-guidelines-despite-Israeli-objections-320384

The link you provided was from December 6, 2012. The article was about "sources" predicting that the new guidelines would not pass the EU vote. Well, it looks like the "sources" were wrong. Here are the new guidelines: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2013:205:0009:0011:EN:PDF

This objective article is a view that I appreciate:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/opinion/global/the-eus-new-guidelines-on-israel-are-not-a-boycott.html?_r=0

[Rue]

No one has suggested that European criticism of Israel is new. However this specific EU policy focussing specifically on settlement expansions looks new to me, as per the headline:

"EU’s new policy on Israeli settlements: The full guidelines"

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.536155"

Yes in fact H Jones suggested it was new and caught Israel off guard. Stop trying to misrepresent why he started this thread.

You also totally missed the point I made. Of course the article I quoted was last year. The point was the latest call for boycott was not new. You missed that.

Then you compound missing that point by stating it and I quote "looks new" to you. Well of course it would if you don't bother to go find out just how long the EEC has been imposing or call on continuing boycotts and sanctions against Israel. The fact you are not aware they have been going on since 1967 does not mean they are new.

You want to cheer on this H Jones misinformation be my guest. It depends on people like you being ignorant of the actual facts.

Also you can select all the articles you want they don't address the issue that these initiatives are not new and so could not have caught Israel off guard. In fact Netanyahu was warned of this announcement by the EEC before he went on his visit to the EEC when these were announced.

The EEC did not spring anything on anyone. Its not how diplomacy works. They would have advised Netanyahu of these prior to his visit deliberately. They are away to pressure Netanyahu before he steps foot on European soil. They are used to set the tone for discussions. Their timing is not a surprise. Its a deliberate negotiations tactic.

Go on check the date out on this and tell me how the above thread starter's suggestion this announcement caught Israel off guard and is a new approach:

http://www.crethiplethi.com/the-eu-at-war-with-israel-the-prospect-of-an-irish-led-eu-wide-boycott/israel/2012/

Edited July 24, 2013 by Rue

[Hudson Jones]

Looks new? They are not. They repeat sanctions done in the past for the exact same thing.

No. You are wrong.

This is the first time EU has applied sanctions on the illegal Jewish settlements.

You can keep repeating otherwise, but unless you show proof that these sanctions are nothing new and they have been done in the past, you're just being Rue.