Now [in Haran] the Lord said to Abram, “Go for yourself [for your own advantage] away from your country, from your relatives and your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others]. And I will bless those who bless you [who confer prosperity or happiness upon you] and curse him who curses or uses insolent language toward you; in you will all the families and kindred of the earth be blessed” [and by you they will bless themselves]. – Genesis 12:1-3; Amplified Bible (Classic)

[Footnote v3: ‘To look with disfavor upon the Jews was to invite God’s displeasure and to treat the Jews offensively was to incur His wrath, but to befriend them would bring down upon one’s head the rewards of a promise that could not be broken.’]

THE PRIME PURPOSE FOR A CLEAN BREXIT FROM THE E.U. IS NOW ABUNDANTLY AND UNQUESTIONABLY PLAIN FOR ALL TO SEE!

A week ago today the European Court of Justice (ECJ) released a legal ruling that’s an  anti-Semitic bomb: one that will blow up in the European Union’s face – maybe bringing down the modern tower of Babel?  In this blog we’ll look at British, American and Israeli reaction.

The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit brought before a French court by Psagot winery, located north of Jerusalem, and decrees that all EU member states must affix special labels to Jewish-made Israeli “foodstuffs” produced beyond Israel’s 1949 armistice line (ie. the ‘West bank’) and exported to EU member states. It begins…(plus later extract):

‘In the judgment Organisation juive européenne and Vignoble Psagot (C-363/18), delivered on 12 November 2019, concerning the interpretation of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011,1 the Grand Chamber of the Court ruled that foodstuffs originating in territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from a locality or a group of localities constituting an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance…the Court held that the indication of the territory of origin of the foodstuffs in question is mandatory, within the meaning of Regulation No 1169/2011, in order to prevent consumers from being misled as to the fact that the State of Israel is present in the territories concerned as an occupying power and not as a sovereign entity…’ [Court of Justice of the European Union Press Release 140/19]

Here’s a brief overview of related news; click links to read each article in full.:

UK PM JOHNSON’S REACTION

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s great love of Israel [New PM Brings Biblical Blessing to Britain] and so the news of Conservative Party’s reaction against the ECJ ruling comes as welcome news, as may be deduced from – Tories to ban councils from boycotting goods from Israel under manifesto plans.

US PRESIDENT TRUMP’S REACTION

Award-winning political reporter Adam Kredo and senior writer on national security and foreign policy matters for the Washington Free Beacon writes on Wednesday 13th,

‘The Trump administration is preparing to go toe-to-toe with the European Union over the latter’s recent decision to mandate that Jewish-made goods produced in contested areas of Israel carry consumer warning labels, a decision critics have described as reminiscent of Nazi-era boycotts, according to senior U.S. officials who briefed the Washington Free Beacon…

‘Observers viewed the decision as a major win for the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The labels are not being applied to Palestinian goods produced in the same areas, a point emphasized by legal experts who described the decision as part of a larger global effort to delegitimize Israel and penalize Jewish manufacturers…’

Here’s the specific reaction of President Trump’s Administration:

‘Senior Trump administration officials told the Free Beacon in their first public comments on the matter that the administration is gearing up to fight the E.U.’s decision and protect its Middle Eastern ally from threats both physical and legal.

‘The officials said efforts to delegitimize Israel will not be taken lightly by the Trump administration and will be met with counteraction. Combatting the EU labeling mandate is a “top priority for us,” one senior administration official working on the matter told the Free Beacon. “We strongly condemn it.”

‘The Trump administration considers the E.U.’s legal moves an endorsement of the BDS movement, which aims to wage economic warfare on Israel and its citizens. The decision also undermines U.S. efforts to foster peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, officials said.

“This is BDS, plain and simple,” the official said, discussing the ongoing matter only on background. “The administration strongly opposes the decision. It will not have the intended effect. These efforts have never brought peace, only more divisions. I think we’ve been clear that we think this is consistent with the BDS movement and we think the BDS movement is anti-Semitic,” the official added in some of the clearest comments on the administration’s view of the movement.

‘Trump administration officials were especially offended by the E.U.’s decision given renewed violence in Israel, where Palestinian terrorists have fired hundreds of rockets at Jewish civilians during the past several days.

“The decision to announce this as Israel is defending a civilian population against hundreds of rockets is particularly tone deaf and demonstrates how poorly the E.U. understands the ramifications of these actions,” the official said.

‘U.S. officials and legal experts who spoke to the Free Beacon further said the E.U.’s ruling is likely to trigger a series of American anti-boycott laws that were enacted in large part to undermine the BDS movement and protect Israel from discrimination.’

Adam then refers to American resolve too deal with international, discriminatory laws:

‘A group of leading lawmakers in Congress warned the E.U. earlier this week that any decision to single out Jewish-made goods would be met with an aggressive response by the United States. The Trump administration says that it is more than willing to work with its partners in Congress to bolster any action they may take in the coming weeks.

“Historically, the U.S. has had a good track record in anti-boycott laws and certainly the admin would be interested in working with Congress on it additionally, and I think we would enjoy broad bipartisan support,” the senior administration official said.

‘Experts anticipate the E.U.’s decision will strain its economic relationship with the United States. “The decision will no doubt affect US-EU trade relations, as so many U.S. officials have already warned,” Brooke Goldstein, executive director of the Lawfare Project, said in a statement to the Free Beacon. “It will likely trigger anti-boycott laws and ‘create policy tensions,’ as [Democratic New Jersey senator Bob] Menendez put it. EU countries that choose to enforce this decision will also be in violation of their WTO obligations. This will end up hurting the EU much more than it will hurt Israel.”

[Trump Admin Will Fight European mandate that Jewish-made Goods Carry ‘Warning Labels’ – emphases RB]

Furthermore on this very matter, yesterday Monday 18th November is a historic date for being a turning pointing in Middle-East history! The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo officially announced Washington has shifted its policy on Israeli settlements. Having carefully studied all the facts, he supports President Reagan’s findings and declared they’re not “inconsistent with international law.”  Therefore, “the Trump administration is reversing the Obama administration’s approach towards Israeli settlements“.  [Read the Full Text of Pompeo’s Statement on Settlements – extract on the settlements and insight into this matter may be read in the next post on the historic timing of this event.]

CAROLINE GLICK’S REACTION

‘Ne plus ultra’ (‘none better’) journalist, Caroline Glick is thorough in her exposure of the ECJ’s ruling as the outcome of the EU’s long-standing hostility towards Israel. Some snippets from her incisive analysis of Our European ‘Friends’.:

‘Israeli lawyers noted at the time that the European demand for discriminatory labels violated international trade law, but this made no impression on European decision-makers.

‘The French court’s referral to the ECJ was a big deal. It created a means for anti-Israel forces in the EU to render the interpretive notice from 2015 legally binding on all EU states without obtaining unanimous consent. ECJ judgments bind all EU states…

‘Once his recommendation was published, any residual hope the ECJ would act in accordance with international trade law and reject the proposed discriminatory labelling policy was extinguished.

‘But then, with or without the advocate general’s recommendation, Israel and Psagot never stood a chance of getting justice at the ECJ. Before it is a judicial body, the ECJ is a political arm of the EU whose job it is to uphold EU policies and strengthen EU institutions.

‘The EU’s policy towards Israel has been clear for a very long time.

‘For decades, the EU has been waging a hostile campaign against Israel. The goals of its campaign are to call Israel’s right to exist into question, weaken Israel economically and politically, and strengthen Israel’s enemies at Israel’s expense. The EU wages its campaign through political, diplomatic and economic warfare…

‘As for Europe’s support for Israel’s enemies, led by Germany, the EU refuses to walk away from the nuclear deal with Iran, or reinstate economic sanctions against Iran in light of its open material breaches of the limitations the nuclear deal placed on its nuclear activities.

‘So too, led by Germany, the EU refuses to designate all arms of Hezbollah as a terror group. This pro-Hezbollah policy has the deadly result of enabling the Iranian-controlled terror group to operate and raise money openly in Europe.

‘Both of these policies, which pave Iran’s way to a nuclear arsenal and empower its foreign legion are hostile acts towards Israel.

‘Then there is the EU’s adulation of the Palestinians. EU institutions do not merely legitimize Palestinian terror groups, including Hamas and the PFLP. They enthusiastically embrace them…

‘In the face of the EU’s implacable, long standing and steadily expanding efforts to harm Israel, the notion Israel can reasonably expect to ever receive a fair hearing from any EU body is ridiculous….

‘Europe is not enlightened and it is not Israel’s ally. It is not susceptible to reason and evidence. It is a hostile post-national governing structure that is conducting political, diplomatic and economic warfare against Israel to harm the Jewish state and assist its enemies.

‘So long as our leaders and our officials refuse to accept this basic truth, we will continue to experience defeat and discrimination as individuals and collectively at the hands of our European “friends.”

For more go to the next post >>