Geneva – Europe could provide the key to success for a U.S.-brokered resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians, prominent American academic Noam Chomsky said Friday.
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Without intervention by Europe, which could use its political and economic weight, the talks likely won’t amount to much, said Chomsky during a talk with international reporters at the Geneva Press Club. But if Europe were willing to break from American policies supporting Israel, he said, that could swing momentum toward a breakthrough.
Preliminary peace talks agreed to after a shuttle mission by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry are to begin in Washington next Tuesday.
Both sides have low expectations for the new U.S. peace initiative since Israeli-Palestinian talks over the terms of a Palestinian state have been frozen for five years amid disagreement even on the rules for negotiations, including the principles for drawing a border between them.
“It’s hard to be optimistic but Europe could play a role,” said Chomsky. “By and large, Europe has not developed an independent Middle East policy.”
The European Union’s biggest trading partner is the United States, but Israel also is an important trading partner for the 28-nation EU in the Mediterranean region. About a third of Israel’s exports go to the EU, and an even higher proportion of Israel’s imports come from the EU.
Chomsky told reporters that Europe “consistently follows the U.S. stand,” which he said punishes Palestinians whose land is settled by Israelis, and “there’s no reason why Europe should support illegal settlements.”
Chomsky is a fierce critic of the U.S. government and Israel, which banned him in 2010. Last year, during his first visit to the Gaza Strip, he called on Israel to end its blockade of the territory run by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
If only he were frum he could be a charter member of nk. His history is one of unrelenting anti-Israel actions, hiding behind his Jewish heritage.
Why would any frum person, or, for that matter, any objective person, care what Chomsky says about anything other than linguistics?
If he says Europe could be helpful, that is a sure sign to keep Europe far far away.
What this self hating Jew really means is that Europe would strong arm Israel to accept anything myriad concessions or suffer more embargoes.
Europe consistently follows the U.S.stance? Since when?
Chomeky, finkelstein and nk are the same thing!
Move over Helen Thomas, judenrat Chomsky will be down shortly.
It would never enter my mind to ask Chomsky to fix my car or air conditioner. Those are areas in which he has no training or expertise. Same goes for halacha questions. Why on earth should anyone respect his opinions about political matters? His personal opinion is full of his own pathology, hating Yiddishkeit and Israel with unequaled passion. He is entitled to it, but it does not deserve a drop of respect. It certainly deserves to be ignored by media including VIN.