BRUSSELS,
November 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Europeans believe
Israel poses the biggest threat to world peace, just ahead of North
Korea, Iran and the United States, according to an E.U. poll released
Monday, October 3, sparking ready-made accusations of anti-Semitism from
Israeli authorities and Jewish groups.
Some
59 percent of Europeans replied "yes" when asked whether or
not Israel presents a threat to peace in the world, said the
Eurobarometer survey, presented by the Brussels commission and carried
by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Fifty-three
percent said Iran, North Korea and the United States posed a threat,
followed by 52 percent for Iraq, 50 percent for Afghanistan and 48
percent for Pakistan.
After
that came Syria on 37 percent; Libya on 36 percent; Saudi Arabia on 36
percent; China on 30 percent; India on 22 percent; Russia on 21 percent;
Somalia on 16 percent and the E.U. itself on eight percent.
In
a country-by-country breakdown, the Netherlands were most concerned
about Israel with the 74 percent of Dutch people saying it represents a
threat to world peace. Italians were the least concerned at 48 percent.
Greece
was the most alarmed about the United States with 88 percent of Greeks
saying the U.S. poses the biggest threat to world peace, while at the
other end of the scale only 43 percent of Italians felt there was any
reason to be concerned.
Anti-Semitism
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"The
European Union would do well to stop the rampant brainwashing
against and demonizing of Israel," Sharansky
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Israel
reacted to the poll even before it was formally released, after the
Spanish daily El Pais published leaked details from it
last week, saying it was proof that anti-Semitism lay behind political
criticism of Israel.
"The
European Union, which shows sensitivity on human rights issues, would do
well to stop the rampant brainwashing against and demonizing of Israel
before Europe deteriorates once again to dark sections of its
past," said Diaspora Affairs Minister Nathan Sharansky.
The
Israeli ambassador to Italy - which currently holds the E.U. presidency
- said in an interview with the daily Il Messagero Monday
that the poll could have significant diplomatic consequences.
"It
seems to me that the only aim of this poll was to denigrate Israel at a
very delicate time, and I think it will be much more difficult for
Europe to fulfill its ambition to play a part in the peace
process," said Ehud Gol.
Israeli
government spokesman Avi Pazner, a former ambassador to Paris and Rome,
claimed the poll lacked credibility for "lumping Israel together
with such states".
He
further blamed "Israel's negative image in European minds" on
"negative reporting during the three-year-old Palestinian Intifada.
"I
think the press coverage over the last three years has been unfair and
unbalanced and has given a generally distorted picture of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict," Pazner said.
"Anti-Semitism"
Jewish
groups also opened salvoes at the poll, with one leading U.S. Jewish
lobby group denouncing the E.U. poll as "shocking" and
"anti-Semitic".
The
Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center described the survey as
"defying logic" and a "racist flight of fantasy".
"This
poll is an indication that Europeans have bought in, 'hook, line and
sinker', to the vilification and demonization campaign directed against
the State of Israel and her supporters by European leaders and
media," said the center's founder and dean, Rabbi Marvin Hier.
"These
shocking results that Israel is the greatest threat to world peace,
bigger than North Korea and Iran, defies logic and is a racist flight of
fantasy," he added.
"That
only shows that anti-Semitism is deeply embedded within European
society, more then any other period since the end of WWII."
Rabbi
Hier said that if the results of the survey were true, Israel should
exclude the European Union from the Middle East peace process.
The
Simon Wiesenthal Center, claiming 400,000 member families in the
United States attacked
in October a new Arab miniseries on the evolution of Zionism and the
creation of Israel allegedly for containing anti-Semitic remarks.
Observers
raised eyebrows whether the poll marks a change in the E.U. stance
towards Israel, which has long came under criticisms from the 15-member
bloc for repeated aggressions against the Palestinians.
The
results appear to be a mark of the widespread
disapproval in Europe of the tactics employed by the Israeli government of Ariel
Sharon during the Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation,
reported the Guardian.
But
the European Commission said that the bloc's policies were not affected
by such poll findings, saying the Israeli reaction was
"legitimate," but otherwise refused any further comment on the
poll results beyond repeatedly
"I
think the reaction was a very legitimate reaction," said spokesman
Gerassimos Thomas, while adding: "It is not our task to interpret
each and every survey".
The
Israeli army has recently intensified attacks against Palestinian
civilians, including women and children in addition to indiscriminate
shootings, house demolitions and choking closures. It also defiantly
vowed the construction of the separation wall despite the international
community's opposition.
On
September 25, 27 Israeli Air Force pilots refused
to take part in air raids on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, assuring that
such raids are immoral and illegal and would endanger Israel’s
reputation as they aim to kill innocent Palestinian civilians.
The
attacks also drew the outrage of many world citizens, with one Oxford
professor rejecting an Israeli student for having had served in the
Israeli army.
The
professor was suspended from academic duties without pay for two months,
the most serious penalty short of dismissal on him.
