BREAKING NEWS: In Unprecedented Move 60 MEPs Call on MOGHERINI to Stop EU Funds and Isolate BDS Movment

November 28, 2017

A cross party group of 60 Members of the European Parliament have urged the EU’s Foreign Affairs Chief, Federica Mogherini to marginalize, both financially and politically organizations such as BDS (Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment) that are increasingly becoming a virulent source in the spread of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism under the pretense of exercising freedom of speech and association.

The unprecedented initiative, spearheaded by representatives of the four major political groups, MEP Cristian DAN PREDA, MEP Ioan Mircea Pascu (S&D, Romania) and a Vice-President of the  European Parliament, MEP Petras Austrevicius (ALDE, Lithuania), MEP Arne Gericke (ECR, Germany) “calls upon ensuring that no public funds go to organizations calling for a boycott of the State of Israel, and to instruct agencies not to engage with companies, organizations or other entities involved with the BDS movement”. 

MEP Cristian DAN PREDA, foreign affairs coordinator for the largest political group, the European People’s Party, and co-initiator of the letter underlined  his party’s  opposition to calls for the suspension of the bilateral agreements with Israel  as some of his extreme left wing colleagues echo directly from the BDS playbook.   “It’s in the interest of this House, and of our citizens, to see an upgrade in the partnership agreement with Israel. We should not allow the current stalemate in the peace process to dictate the terms of our relationship with Israel.”

Swedish MEP and President of EIPA’S political Board Lars Adaktusson – a co- signatory – underlined that “the Union, and the Parliament, is in danger of being deemed irrelevant as a peace broker if it fails to address the incitement on its own soil against Israel.”  

Vice President of the European Parliament, Ioan Mircea Pascu concluded that  “boycotting strategic ties with Israel,  a leader in the intelligence and defence international community, may prove counterproductive to the common security interests  of both EU and Israel”.

The 60 signatories, among which are Chair of Security and Defence, MEP Anna Fotyga (ECR, Poland), Vice-Preident Pavel Telicka (ALDE, Czech Republic), Dietmar Koster (S&D, Germany), Vice-Chair of Human Rights Beatriz Becerra (ALDE, Spain) urged their Foreign Affairs chief to “address the incitement to hatred and violence and discriminatory practice of calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the State of Israel.”

Europe Israel Public Affairs Founder Rabbi Menachem Margolin welcomed the initiative of the 60 MEPs: “Israel sometimes feels misunderstood by Europe, and this leads to a further strain on the relations. The European Parliament takes pride in its diversity, and we are glad to see such a wide support for investment, rather than divestment from something that has been for more than 3 decades a mutually advantageous bilateral relation”.

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Despite European Jewish leaders’ protests, watch belonging to Hitler auctioned in the U.S.

’’The items only give succour to those who idealize what the Nazi party stood for or offer buyers the chance to titillate a guest or loved one with an item belonging to a genocidal murderer and his supporters,” wrote Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of Brussels-based European Jewish Association (EJA) in a letter co-signed by 34 leaders of Jewish communities in Europe – write Yossi Lempkowicz.

Despite protests by European Jewish leaders, a gold watch belonging to Hitler was sold by an American auction house for over €1 million. 

The Huber timepiece has a swastika design, as well as the initials A H. It was purchased by an anonymous bidder.

The auction took place on Friday despite the call by 34 European Jewish leaders on Alexander Historical Auctions house in Chesapeake City, Maryland, to cancel the auction.

Among other Nazi items auctioned were a dog collar belonging to Eva Braun’s terrier, Wehrmacht toilet paper and cutlery and champagne glasses of senior Nazi figures.

 

The auction house’s president Bill Panagopulos, dismissed the protests. He said:  “What we sell is criminal evidence, no matter how insignificant. It is tangible, real in-your-face proof that Hitler and Nazis lived, and also persecuted and killed tens of millions of people. To destroy or in any way impede the display or protection of this material is a crime against history.’’

But Jewish leaders, who sent a letter to the auction house condemning the sale, rejected the claim.’’The items only give succour to those who idealize what the Nazi party stood for or offer buyers the chance to titillate a guest or loved one with an item belonging to a genocidal murderer and his supporters,” wrote Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Chairman of Brussels-based European Jewish Association (EJA) in the letter co-signed by 34 leaders of Jewish communities in Europe.

He added, ‘’the sale of these items is an abhorrence. There is little to no intrinsic historical value to the vast bulk of the lots on display. Indeed, one can only question the motivation of those buying them. Europe suffered egregiously because of the perverted and murderous ideology of the Nazi party. Millions died to preserve the values of freedom that we take for granted today, including almost half a million Americans. Our continent is littered with memorial mass graves and the sites of death camps.’’

Over the last years, the European Jewish Association has protested several auctions of nazi items.

Alexander Historical Auctions had already faced similar rebuke for previous sales,  including one that featured the personal diaries of notorious Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.

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European Jewish community awards Roberta Metsola

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola was on Monday presented with the King David Award from the European Jewish Association (EJA) in recognition of her support to the Jewish community in Europe.

In an acceptance speech, she said the award will serve as a continuous reminder of heinous crimes committed against humanity, and to recall the importance of speaking up in defence of European common values.

The award was given after her visit commemorating the victims of the holocaust at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camps.

Metsola also laid a wreath at the so-called Death Wall and participated in a memorial ceremony.

Metsola pledged to honour the legacy of the Holocaust victims “by never forgetting, by never being indifferent, and by always, always speaking up”.

“At this place of horror, we must find hope. Our promise to those lost and to those who survived is to remember, to never be silent and to build a new world in their memory. We remember”, said President Metsola at the end of her visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camps.

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New Cooperation with Šiauliai County Jewish Community, Lithuania

The European Jewish Association is very happy and proud to welcome another organisation to our growing roster of partners. We have just concluded and signed a Cooperation and Partnership Agreement with the Jewish Community of Šiauliai County, Lithuania.
We eagerly look forward to many positive exchanges and fruitful cooperation with our new partners from the Lithuanian Jewish community. Together, we hope to achieve a lot of beautiful and important things, all the while jointly working towards the betterment and wellbeing of both Lithuanian and European Jewry.

CALL TO ACTION! No to the sale of Nazi memorabilia!❗️❗️❗️

Munich’s Hermann Historica International Auctions house is selling over 700 items linked to the Nazis including personal items of Hitler and other nazi figures, who murdered 6 million Jews alone.

It’s wrong to make money off these blood soaked items, especially in Germany of all places! Please share our poster on Facebook, and if any of you are near Munich we invite you to protest directly at Bretonischer Ring 3 Munich, Germany.
#antisemitism
#NazisMemorabilia
#EJA
#EuropeanJewishAssociation

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