Interviews 09:59 01/07/2014

Israel’s friends in high places blunting effect of bans – analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Ian Williams, Foreign Policy in Focus from New York, about US Middle East envoy quitting his mission after peace talks between Palestine and Israel collapsed.

Press TV: Martin Indyk has finally resigned but not after pointing to the extent Tel Aviv was responsible for the breakdown of the so-called peace talks. How can a new envoy work in this current atmosphere?

Williams: I was amused with the phrase that Europe was losing patience over the Israel settlements. This has been almost fifty years that Israel has been building settlements in defiance of international law and the European Union is losing patience. It should have of course lost patience long ago and it should have put more vigorous campaigning with definite sanctions on Israel for building settlements.

As it is, they are still toying with the idea that they can boycott produce from the settlements and that they can make warnings to companies. They should fine the companies. The companies are taking part in the crime against the Geneva Conventions. It’s as simple as that. All of the governments in the European Union recognize that the settlements are illegal. International Court of Justice has ruled that what Israel is doing there is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. It’s transplanting population, it’s deporting populations.

The time for losing patience is long gone. The patience should be lost and some vigorous and effective economic embargoes at least should be placed against Israel for its behavior in the settlements. You can’t separate Israel proper from what it’s doing in the settlements. It’s almost as though you are amputating the hand of the thief and exonerating the thief.

Press TV: Voices are getting louder against Israel's policies and actions and of course its aggressive collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and all this because of Israel wanting to find three Israeli teenagers, why doesn’t Tel Aviv take such criticisms seriously?

Williams: I think what’s happened was the former labor government and more sophisticated Israelis were very clever at manipulating public opinion internationally. They would say, yes tut-tut and we have to, that they would make soothing noises.

But the problem with this diehard cabinet of aggressive Zionists and nationalists is they don’t really want to make apologies, so they have been very blunt about it. They are not really giving the European Union and even the more law-abiding American diplomats the excuses that they need to exonerate them. They have been blatant with it.

You know the idea that Kerry will go there and they almost inevitably announce it but a round of settlement building immediately afterwards. Any other statesmen, any other country would have been punished for this in loads of different ways but they have a sense of impunity and so far it’s a deserved sense because they are getting away with it.

Press TV: Very briefly, how much is Israel facing isolation in the international community?

Williams: There are serious strains. There are contracts that have been cancelled for the railway lines there, there are commercial companies that won’t operate in the occupied territories. There are Israeli imports which have been stopped because they are suspected of being from the settlements, there have hold up some grants but in the end they have so many friends in high places in Europe that somehow the effect of this displeasure is always blunted.

What we need, in fact, is people alot more vociferous like the European Union ambassador to Israel that we need more people like that in the policy making side of the European Union and the various capitals saying, “ No, this has got to stop.” 



Source Panorama.am
Share |
Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:

Newsfeed

15:05
NSW MPs call on Australians to boycott COP29
Three members of the New South Wales Parliament have delivered powerful addresses on the floor of the Legislative Assembly to mark the first...
14:32
Archbishop Sahak Mashalyan arrives at Mother See
Archbishop Sahak Mashalyan, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, on Friday arrived at the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin, the Armenian church...
14:04
Artsakh president commemorates 2020 war anniversary
Artsakh President Samvel Shahramanyan on Friday visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan to pay tribute to fallen soldiers on the...
13:30
Alen Simonyan to reportedly attend re-consecration of Echmiadzin cathedral
Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan will attend the re-consecration ceremony of the Mother Cathedral in Etchmiadzin on Sunday,...
13:03
No decision yet on next stage of Armenian-Azeri border delimitation, official says
No decision has yet been made on the next stage of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border delimitation process, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher...
12:34
Ruben Vardanyan, other Armenian leaders mark one year as political prisoners in Azerbaijan
Today marks the first anniversary of the arbitrary arrest by Azerbaijani authorities of eight Armenian leaders, commencing with the arrest of...
12:15
Ex-defense minister set to become Japan's next PM
After five tries, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba will finally lead the Liberal Democratic Party — and Japan, The Japan Times...
12:03
Pashinyan at UN: Armenian proverb says, 'Let us speak the positive in order to be well'
As part of his working visit to New York, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Thursday delivered a speech at the 79th session...
11:36
Armenian deputy PM acknowledges problems in relations with Russia
Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan acknowledged existing problems in relations with Russia and other countries. "We need...
11:15
Artsakh president pays tribute to fallen soldiers on war anniversary
Artsakh President Samvel Shahramyan on Friday visited the Yrablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan to pay homage to fallen soldiers on the...
11:00
Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to put additional efforts towards signing of peace deal
On September 26, under the initiative and with participation of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat...
17:15
Wheat production in Armenia unprofitable, economy minister says
Wheat production in Armenia is economically unprofitable, Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan told reporters outside the Armenian government...
16:46
Martin Scorsese's two film projects postponed
Martin Scorsese, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind some of cinema’s most iconic works, had planned to begin shooting two highly...
16:34
Yerevan to host Meghraton exhibition and sale of bee products
Meghraton exhibition and sale of honey and other bee products is set to take place at Yerevan's Yeraz Park on September 28-29. The event is...
16:17
Political analyst slams Pashinian's UN speech, photo with Erdogan
Political analyst Suren Surenyants hit out at Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for his speech at the Summit of the Future held on the sidelines of...
15:35
UNICEF and Germany to scale up child protection services for refugee children in Armenia
UNICEF and the German Embassy in Yerevan announced a new contribution of 2,9 million Euros from the German Federal Foreign Office in the...
15:05
New COVID strain cases detected in Russia
Specialists from the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing have recorded two coronavirus...
14:35
Armenian Airlines to launch direct flights between Yerevan, Volgograd
Armenian Airlines will launch direct flights between Yerevan and Volgograd, a city in southwest Russia, starting from 1 December 2024....
14:07
Political analyst says South Caucasus turning into a 'powder keg'
Political analyst Sergei Melkonian, a research fellow at the Applied Policy Research Institute (APRI Armenia), warns that the South Caucasus...
13:45
Today marks Komitas' 155th anniversary
September 26 marks the 155th birth anniversary of Komitas Vardapet, a prominent Armenian composer, priest, musicologist, arranger, singer and...
13:30
Georgia seeks to transform South Caucasus into a region of opportunities, PM says
Georgia has led the effort to transform the South Caucasus into a region of opportunities, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli...
12:55
Pashinyan's wife chats with Turkish first lady in New York
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's spouse, Anna Hakobyan, on Wednesday attended a reception in New York hosted by U.S. First Lady...
12:30
U.S. government announces $20,600,000 support to Armenia
Secretary of State Blinken and USAID Administrator Power spotlight democratic progress in Armenia and announce $20,600,000 from the United...
12:17
Blinken to meet with Armenian, Azeri FMs on Thursday evening
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun...
11:55
The government has decided to remove Mikayel Minasyan's brother from his position as minister, continuing its repressive measures
For three days, members of Armenia's ruling "Civil Contract" faction have been collecting signatures to dismiss Justice Minister...
11:35
Iran warns Israel against 'full-scale war' in Lebanon
Israel's leaders must understand their crimes won't go unpunished, Iran's foreign minister has said on the sidelines of the UN....
11:24
Armenian FM, UN refugee chief meet in New York
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on the sidelines of the 79th...
11:00
Armenia's Emma Poghosyan wins gold at World Junior Weightlifting C'ships
18-year-old Emma Poghosyan has won the first medal for Armenia at the World Junior Weightlifting Championship in Leon, Spain. Competing in...
17:04
Yerevan to host performing arts festival in October
The 22nd HIGH FEST International Performing Arts Festival will be held in Yerevan on 1-8 October. The festival is expected to bring together...
16:45
Forty days from election, Kamala Harris starts courting Armenian American voters
Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris expressed support for the “right for Armenians displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh to return...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}