Avoiding an Israeli fascist isn't the brave move the EU thinks it is

[Israeli]

Cancelling an event with Ben Gvir does not make up for a history of European interests that give Israel the green light to carry on with its illegal policies.

By Eitay Mack May 22, 2023

Earlier this month, the European Union’s embassy in Israel announced that it was canceling its Europe Day reception, scheduled for May 9, over far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s insistence on speaking at the event. Far from proving the strength of the human rights values of the European countries, as stated by the EU delegation’s spokesperson, the decision is just another illustration of these countries’ hypocrisy in their engagement with Israel-Palestine.

The announcement came after a week of media reports suggesting that the EU delegation was hoping the Netanyahu government would send another minister to the reception instead. If they would have been fine with another minister from the most extreme-right government in Israel’s history speaking at the event, the EU diplomats may as well have gone ahead with Ben Gvir’s participation and just covered their heads with blankets while he spoke.

Continued @ : https://www.972mag.com/european-union-ben-gvir-human-rights/

Eitay Mack is an Israeli human rights lawyer working to stop Israeli military aid to regimes that commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[Beastly Boy]

1. Sorry to say, but 972 proved once again that they do not take journalism seriously

The EU embassy's decision was indeed brave, not to mention unprecedented, in cancelling the event. A newsworthy and consequential move of considerable diplomatic, political and symbolic significance, which 972 somehow managed to turn into a petty rant of disapproval because it didn't live up to their narrow, not to mention unrealistic, view of EU-Israel relations in particular and diplomacy in general.

To do this, they had to quickly abandon the merits of this remarkable event and deflect this legitimate news item into a rather lame historical critique, picking and choosing just a couple of random events from the long history of Europe-Israel relations, the events that have to do, without exception, with individual European countries and not EU, that do not by any means form a complete or accurate picture of that history.

Even their key premise that you bolded in your post doesn't stand up to scrutiny: there is not a single confirmation from the embassy that they would have accepted, let alone be fine with another current government minister as a speaker at the event. It is merely a presumption based on a hyperbola and a metaphor offered by the author, not a conclusion based on the impartial analysis of the event or the context within which it occurred.

The article is fine as an example of a partisan opinion piece to advance grievances of a peculiar ideological point of view, but this does not amount to responsible journalism.

[Israeli]

2. No need to apologize

I understand why you dont like 972

Its the opinion of ....

Eitay Mack is an Israeli human rights lawyer working to stop Israeli military aid to regimes that commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Who is not a journalist.

Which is why I emphasized that in my post .

His " peculiar ideological point of view " ......is that of an Israeli Leftist .