Free Republic

Had they not died as part of the Charlie Hebdo killers' final act, I wonder how much publicity the murders of Philippe Braham, Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, and François-Michel Saada at a kosher grocery store would have attracted. An Islamic fanatic killed another quartet of Jews at the Jewish Museum in Brussels last spring, and it was a big story for a couple of days, and then faded away. Over the last decade, the Continent seems to have developed a certain psychological ease with the routine murder of Jews. What remains of Jewish communal life in Europe now takes place...

Since January of last year the European Union has been threatening to boycott any company or entity that does business with the West Bank of Israel. The sanctions, perversely designed by Secretary of State John Kerry, were meant to punish Israel for its settlements in the West Bank and encourage the Jewish nation to adopt Kerry’s peace process framework. The economic boycott threat was entirely one-sided against Israel. Because there were no consequences for the Palestinian Authority should they abandon the peace process, it gave the PA every reason to harden their position and wait for the EU to act...

Israeli settlers living in the Palestinian territories often deceptively give their products a “Made in Israel” label. The European Union wants to move soon to end the practice and appears to be set on a collision course with the country. … The international community has never recognized Israeli sovereignty over these areas, and the Geneva Convention outlaws the establishment of settlements within occupied territories. Nevertheless, successive Israeli governments have allowed colonies to be built up within them and, today, some 650,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. …

Following the Bulgarian investigation which determined that Hizbullah was behind a July terror attack in Burgas which killed five Israelis, the EU announced that it would consider adding Hizbullah to its official list of terrorist organizations. "This is just one of the options and a decision has not yet been reached," said an EU spokeswoman. Foreign ministers of the European Union will meet on February 19 to discuss ...

MEPs have rubber-stamped a trade deal with Israel despite a warning by their own legal services that it might clash with EU law. The European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday (23 October) passed the so-called ACAA (Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products) pact by 379 votes against 230 with 40 abstentions. … The legal description of the Israeli body that certifies drugs for ACAA purposes could be a stumbling block, however. EU parliament lawyers spelled out their views in a 10-page analysis dated 16 March this year. They said that if Israel’s ACAA regulator—most likely its health...

A statement issued by the European Union on Tuesday seemed to suggest it supports Palestinian Authority Arabs’ rights to throw stones during non-violent protests. The statement, released on Tuesday by the spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, criticized Israel for convicting PA Arab Bassem Tamimi of dispatching stone-throwers and protesting illegally. An Israeli court convicted Tamimi on Sunday, according to an AFP report. The 45-year-old was charged with soliciting stone-throwing based on evidence that he directed such incidents from the roof-tops. He was arrested on March 24, 2011, AFP reported,...