Open Letter MEPs to HRVP Borrell on Qatar – 14 December 2023-2
Dear High Representative Borrell,
Strasbourg, 1 4 December 2023
It is now sadly over 10 weeks since the Hamas inhumane massacre in Israel and the abduction of civilian hostages, including babies, infants, women, elderly and medically unfit people.
We, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, urge your attention on the role of Qatar and their explicit support of Hamas. Both in providing financial assistance of billions of euros over the years but also in harbouring the leadership of Hamas, who live in luxury in Doha with 24-hour security provided by Qatar.
Despite its recent mediation efforts, Qatar could simply pressure Hamas more today to release the remaining hostages and be part of the solution, instead of part of the inhumane problem of terrorism.
As High Representative for the Union on Foreign Affairs, the Qatari government must be reminded that their support for Hamas and terrorism, will affect its future relations with the European Union. We must make clear to Qatar and every other entity in the region that human rights come first, before any business dealings.
Both the Statement of the Members of the European Council of 15 October 20231 and the European Parliament Resolution P9_TA(2023)0373, adopted on 19 October 20232, call for Hamas to “immediately release all hostages” and note “that the taking
of hostages is a violation of international law and constitutes a war crime.
Furthermore, the rhetoric and actions of Qatar contribute towards the incitement and violence that Jewish people are experiencing here in Europe. Following the terror attack of 7 October, antisemitic attacks and hate speech have multiplied by over 1000%. Jewish communities live under fear and are being assaulted, in many instances, by supporters of Hamas on the continent.
The scale and brutality of the attacks, which are some of the worse since the Holocaust, must be a turning point. We no longer can accept that it will be ‘business as usual’.
We call upon you to ensure that Qatar and all key partners put the utmost pressure possible for the safe release of all the hostages as a priority.
We thank you for your consideration and look forward to your update regarding this issue.
Yours sincerely,
The European Parliament is set to discuss Tuesday in Strasbourg US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. The debate in the plenary session of the parliament will focus on the status granted to the city by Presdient Trump who set out last Wednesday his intention to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that was subsequently backed up by two EU member states, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
STRASBOURG —The European Parliament is set to discuss Tuesday in Strasbourg US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The debate in the plenary session of the parliament will focus on the status granted to the city by Presdient Trump who set out last Wednesday his intention to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that was subsequently backed up by two EU member states, the Czech Republic and Hungary.
The decision has prompted a backlash and led to violence on the Palestinian side.
Some officials in Europe have asserted that the American decision will ignite tensions in the region.
Ahead of the Strasbourg debate, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the founder and Director of the Brussels based European Jewish Association which represents Jews across the continent, wrote a letter to the European Parliament President, Vice-Presidents and heads of political groups asking them to act as “voices of Reason” during the debate.
In his letter Rabbi Margolin said, ‘Some have asserted that this decision will ignite tensions in the region. It should be noted that some Member States unilaterally recognised the State of Palestine even before the respective parties reached understandings.’’
He continued, ‘The European Parliament has a delegation for relations with Palestine which was put in place before official state recognition and before the parties again reached understandings. There are Palestinian embassies all over the world, before the parties reached understandings.‘President Trump did not say that united Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. He said the borders will be discussed during the negotiations between the sides.’
For Rabbi Margolin, the furore over the US move is ‘’unwarranted, unjustified and is one-sided to say the least.’’
‘’Furthermore such voices reward the incitement to violence and violence that is being perpetuated on the Palestinian side. Such a reward would be incompatible and would not be expected from the House that you represent,’’ reads the letter to the MEPs.
“I earnestly hope that voices of reason will prevail during the debate, and you will use the opportunity to remind the house of the facts outlined in my letter,” Rabbi Margolin concluded.
It was our pleasure today to host a zoom conference with Jewish communities from all across Europe to share with each other the difficulties and how we are coping under #COVID19 just before the Pesach holidays.
we would like to thank:
Rabbi Arie Goldberg, Director General of the Rabbinical Center of Europe -RCE
Daniel Kapp (Austria), Member of the Advisory Board
Ellen van Praagh (The Netherlands), Member of the Advisory Board
Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs (Netherlands), Chief Rabbi of the Intern-Provincial Chief Rabbinate of the Netherlands
Dr. Emil Kalo (Bulgaria), Member of the Advisory Board
Dr. Ferenc Olti (Hungary), Member of the Advisory Board
Pascal Markowicz (France), Member of the Advisory Board
Fernando Rosenberg (Spain), Jewish Community of Barcelona
Konstantinos Karagounis MP (Greece), Member of the Advisory Board
Regina Suchowolski-Sluszny (Belgium), Member of the Advisory Board
Rabbi Zevi Ives (Belgium), ECJS (European Center for Jewish Students)
Maximillian Marco Katz (Romania), Member of the Advisory Board
Joël Rubinfeld (Belgium), Member of the Advisory Board
Saskia Pantell(Sweden), President of the Zionist Federation of Sweden
Leon Bendahan (Spain)
Hanna Luden (The Netherlands), Director at CIDI – Centrum Informatie Documentatie Israel
Diana Sandler (Germany), President of the Jewish Community of Barnim
Szalai Kálmán (Hungary), Secretary of the Action and Protection League – APL
Edward Odoner (Poland), Vice-President of the Social and Cultural Society of Jews in Poland
Rabbi Köves Slomó, Executive Rabbi of EMIH – Unified Hungarian Jewish Congregation
It’s a challenging time for Jewish communities in Europe. Anti-Semitism is on the rise as populism and the politics of the lowest common denominator are gaining traction. Our communities often need round the clock protection and our practices and customs such as keeping Kosher are under pressure from increasing political interference.
