SWEDEN - The Woes of Foreign Minister Margot Wallström

Margot Wallström Riyadh blocks Sweden FM address at Arab League meeting The Swedish foreign minister says Saudi Arabia has blocked her scheduled speech at an Arab League meeting in the Egyptian capital city of Cairo. “The explanation we have been given is that Sweden has highlighted the situation for democracy and human rights [in Saudi Arabia] and that is why they do not want me to speak,” said Margot Wallström in Cairo on Monday, adding, “It’s a shame that a country has blocked my participation.” Wallström implicitly criticized the Arab League for allowing Saudi Arabia to exert such a considerable influence on other member states. The Arab League had invited the Swedish official to give an address to the ministerial meeting of the organization in praise of Stockholm’s official decision to recognize Palestine as an independent state in October 2014. The decision to cancel the speech “has also put the Arab League in a difficult situation since it means that a country can block an event of this kind," Wallström added. An Arab diplomat has confirmed the news about canceling Wallström’s scheduled address in Cairo, AFP reported. EXTRACT - FULL AT SOURCE http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/03/09/401035/KSA-bans-Sweden-FM-speech-at-AL  Russia blames Sweden for Ukraine crisis Russia’s embassy in Sweden has pointed the finger of blame at its host country for causing Ukraine's woes, in a furious response to comments made about the crisis by Foreign Minister Margot Wallström.  Writing on Facebook, the embassy lambasted the “honoured minister” for the “one-sided” view of the Ukraine conflict she put forward in an opinion piece published on Friday in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper. In the article, Wallström said Russia’s annexation of Crimea and its military support for separatists in eastern Ukraine posed the greatest threat to peace in Europe since the end of the Cold War. In its response, the Russian embassy suggested Sweden and others had provoked Russia into seizing part of its neighbour’s territory by offering Ukraine a pathway to membership of the European Union. “The main tool turned out to be a state coup, a violent power takeover, which pushed Ukraine into the abyss of civil war,” the embassy wrote. EXTRACT - FULL AT SOURCE http://www.thelocal.se/20150309/russia-blames-sweden-for-ukraine-crisis Wallström not welcome in Israel Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallström had planned to visit Israel this Thursday, to take part in a seminar in memory of the Swede Raoul Wallenberg in Tel Aviv. The Swedish Foreign Office says the trip was cancelled for scheduling reasons. But according to Swedish Radio News, the real reason is that Wallström was not welcome in Israel. Israeli officials have refused to meet with her, and it would have been embarrassing for the Foreign minister to visit the country unofficially. EXTRACT - FULL AT SOURCE http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=6067802

Israel’s Lieberman calls for beheading of Arab Israelis

Minutes after putting up the groovy IDF song for Defence Minister Ya'alon, I discover this streaming before me on social media: Israel’s Lieberman calls for beheading of Arab Israelis Mon Mar 9, 2015 12:18AM The Israeli foreign minister has called for the beheading of all Arabs living in the occupied territories, only because of their opposition to the policies of the Tel Aviv regime. Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday that all Arabs who reside in occupied Palestine and oppose Israel for its discriminatory policies against the Palestinians should be decapitated. “… those against us, it cannot be helped, we must lift up an ax and behead them — otherwise we will not survive here.”  Lieberman said. The extremist Israeli politician, who leads the Yisrael Beytenu party, made the remarks during a campaign event ahead of the general election slated for mid March. Lieberman has repeatedly called for taking harsh measures against the Arabs living in the occupied territories, whom Lieberman call terrorists because of expressing their solidarity with the Palestinians. He has even called for issuing death penalties for those who publicly denounce Israeli’s policies against the Palestinians. “… [those] who raise a black flag on Nakba Day [on which Palestinians mourn the establishment of Israel] — from my perspective, they should leave here,” he said. Lieberman has also proposed a land swaps plan in which Arabs would be handed over to the Palestinian Authority in exchange for more territories in which Israel could expand its illegal settlements. In a TV debate earlier in the month, Lieberman lashed out at leader of the Arab party, Ayman Odeh, calling him a terror supporter and a fifth column. Lieberman is quite known for his odd and controversial comments on foreign policy issues, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu designating him as the “embarrassing foreign minister.” http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/03/09/400936/Arabs-opposing-Israel-must-be-beheaded COMMENT LMAO ... how bad do you have to be for Bibi to declare you an embarrassment! At first I wasn't sure this was real and wondered if PressTV had misconstrued what he'd said.  Maybe he didn't really mean literally behead them? This is unbelievable.  The guy's a foreign minister and he says crazy stuff like that. Some of the other Israeli politicians seem off their heads, too. Ayelet Shaked (HaBayit HaYehudi, The Jewish Home party member) is one of those. Confused about Israeli Arabs.  I thought they were Palestinians.  But they're not. Find it so bizarre that people in positions of power hold such extreme, hostile positions.

ISRAEL - "Foreign Ministry initiates disciplinary measures over political tweets by diplomats"

Foreign Ministry initiates disciplinary measures over political tweets by diplomats By HERB KEINON \ 02/05/2015 01:01 Two Israeli diplomats, including the country’s ambassador to Switzerland, were recalled Wednesday to face disciplinary measures for posting blatantly political comments on their Twitter accounts. A third employee, who works at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, is to face disciplinary actions for the same reason. The decision to take measures that could eventually lead to their dismissal came following an NRG report on the tweets Wednesday by Ariel Kahana. The three are Yigal Caspi, a senior diplomat who is the envoy to Switzerland, Assaf Moran and Yaron Gamburg. Caspi, for instance, retweeted posts last month mocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress and for harming ties with the US, as well as another that slammed Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman for his treatment of his ministers. As of Wednesday evening, his Twitter account only had some 250 followers. Moran, a political counselor at Israel’s embassy in New Delhi, posted a tweet this week quoting a public relations man saying that Netanyahu is trying to do everything except talk about the issues. His Twitter account was taken down Wednesday night. And Gamburg, formerly Israel’s spokesman in Paris and currently working in the ministry’s political research division, wrote on his account that Bayit Yehudi head Naftali Bennett was, among other things, delusional, messianic, violent and homophobic. His account was also unaccessible Wednesday evening. One ministry source said that when these tweets were brought to Liberman’s attention, he decided to immediately initiate disciplinary procedures. This, the source said, will likely trigger a response in defense of the employees from the worker’s committee. Under civil service regulations, civil servants are forbidden from publicly taking political positions. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Foreign-Ministry-initiates-disciplinary-measures-over-political-tweets-by-diplomats-390033 COMMENT Wow, this is almost like a Foreign Ministry mutiny. Links Bayit Yehudi = HaBayit HaYehudi ie The Jewish Home religious Zionist political party in Israel (successor party to the National Religious Party) founded 2008 Ideology:  Religious Zionism Political position: Right-Wing to Far-right Leader:  Naftali Bennett "Represents Modern Orthodox" voters "who tend to be more nationalist in Israel" Bayit Yehudi gaining ground, prompting Likud party to go more right wing

Israel & ICC

Israel’s attempt to undercut ICC is world’s worst tribute to Auschwitz liberation Why is the Jewish state seeking to unhinge the sole international body that's out to fulfill the promise of 'Never Again'?  By Jess Salomon    | Feb. 2, 2015 | 7:58 PM It is hard to imagine a less fitting tribute to the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz than Israel’s international lobbying effort to cut funding to the International Criminal Court, an institution whose mandate is to hold individuals accountable for crimes such as, you guessed it, genocide. Yet, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, it was revealed that a number of the ICC's top donors will reject Israel’s lobbying efforts to dent funding to the court, which is currently running on a very tight budget to deal with cases involving a Ugandan commander of the rebel Lord Resistance Army (that’s Kony’s gang), Congolese rebel commanders, and the former president of Côte d’Ivoire, among others. The states who said they would reject Israel's efforts to effectively cripple the court include Canada, a steadfast Israeli ally, and Germany, which, given its history, stated that it “couldn’t imagine” cutting funding. [ ...] ... Moreover, the ICC statute contains an essential jurisdictional safeguard in that it is complimentary to national jurisdictions. The ICC can only prosecute in cases where a member state has proven itself unwilling or unable to genuinely carry out the investigation or prosecution. It’s not like a team of international lawyers is about to swoop into Israel to kidnap her soldiers before she's had a chance to deal with them herself. Israel’s request that states stop funding the ICC – funds it needs to pay its staff – comes on the heels of her punishing the Palestinians for submitting to the court’s jurisdiction by holding back Palestinian tax dollars that the Palestinian Authority needs to pay its civil servants. (Well, at least Israel hasn't built a settlement on the court’s property.) Palestine should be lauded for taking the unilateral action of submitting itself to the ICC’s jurisdiction, for it represents a desire to peacefully address crimes committed on its territory by all parties. One of the major reasons to hold individual people accountable is to avoid assigning collective guilt – that is, to the Palestinian or Israeli people on the whole – and thereby stop a cycle of violent retribution by one group against another. Israel’s go-to argument is of course that international institutions are biased and politicized and, so, it chooses to boycott and obstruct them. But the ICC isn’t a political body, no matter what Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman claims. It isn’t even a part of the UN system. There have, however, been times when states made the court’s work next-to impossible, such as when the prosecutor was forced to drop charges against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta due a lack of evidence that was caused by Kenya’s obstruction, but that doesn’t seem to be Israel’s genuine concern. Rather, it seems that Israel is the one attempting to politicize the court. [ ...] EXTRACTS ONLY - FULL @ SOURCE http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.640409 COMMENT Another good article. This one is written by: Jess Salomon is a former UN war crimes lawyer from Montreal, Canada, who is now a stand-up comic. Wow, that's some career change. Anyway, this is a bit more on Israel and its lobbying against ICC.

Netanyahu - More Than Electoral Campaign Bluster

ISRAEL Israel's ability to influence inter'l community, in general, + USA, in particular, is damaged by Netanyahu's election moves  Netanyahu has set 3 'fires': > US Congress diplomatic “terror attack” > Golan Heights > settlements tender / expansion From article:   As Netanyahu rampages, Israel's interests are but collateral damage The prime minister has become a ticking cluster bomb, discharging its lethal load at timed intervals and destroying the remains of Israel’s standing in the world. http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.640046  .................................................................................... COMMENT Thought this was worth sharing. Seems like Netanyahu and Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman are on the same rampaging page: Sounds like #Israel Foreign Minister Lieberman wants 3rd war in #Lebanon http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4621448,00.html … Took Lieberman's remarks seriously and considered that maybe Israel is aiming to fire up a conflict with Lebanon, but now I'm thinking maybe it's all in line with Netanyahu's election campaign moves. Anyway, I thought this was an interesting way to look at what's going on right now, although I'm not entirely convinced this is all merely voter influencing behaviour. Since Netanyahu took office in 2009: Can I Take a Tax-Deduction on My Donation to Israeli Settlements in Palestine?American charities funnel millions of dollars to support the building of illegal settlements in the occupied territories. It's time for this to end. By Eric Goldstein January 29, 2015"... from the beginning of 2009 until the beginning of 2014, the settlement population grew 23 percent — more than double the rate of the overall Israeli population, which expanded 9.6 percent." "In late December, another 380 new housing units in East Jerusalem settlements were approved." "This growth is partly being funded by millions of dollars from tax-exempt American charities, which help expand and support settlements." https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/01/29/illegal-tax-deduction-charity-israel-settlements-palestine-irs/  Judging by the settlements article, Netanyahu's policies are consistent and have a tangible, progressive impact on what is going on in the Middle East.