Europe forgets history by labeling settlement products Netanyahu says

(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly)
Invoking the memory of the Holocaust Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu said that Europe is forgetting its history by labeling products originating in Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

"It's outrageous because it's unfair to blame the victim" the premier toldThe Jerusalem PostDiplomatic Conference on Wednesday.. "There are 200 territorial conflicts in the world yet the EU chooses to label Jewish products in the West Bank. Do you know how many West Banks there are in the world?"

"They say it's because of their frustration [over lack of progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace]" the prime minister said. "We've been fighting for our lives for 100 years. This is absolutely absurd and morally abhorrent because on the soil of Europe within living memory Jewish products were labeled Jewish stores were labeled."

Netanyahu told the conference that Israel and France "stand together in their struggle to defeat these beasts who have a name - radical Islam."

Standing alongside the French ambassador to Israel Patrick Maisonnave at the Waldorf Astoria in Jerusalem the premier said that the terrorists who carried out the assault that killed scores in Paris last week are "barbarians that devour the innocent in their way."

"We must stand together and fight together" the prime minister said. "The people of Israel grieve with you the people of Israel stand with you."

Netanyahu's remarks came one day after the Israeli government angrily hit back at the Swedish foreign minister for suggesting that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was a motivating factor in the Paris atrocities.

Sweden’s foreign minister Margot Wallstrom was asked on Swedish television “How worried are you about the radicalization of young people in Sweden who are fighting for ISIS?”

According to the translation provided by Israel’s Foreign Ministry Wallstrom answered: “Obviously we have reason to be worried not just in Sweden but across the world because there are so many that are being radicalized. Here once again we are brought back to situations like the one in the Middle East where not least the Palestinians see that there isn’t a future. We must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence.”

The Swedish Foreign Ministry issued a clarification in which it denied that Wallstrom had made a connection between the two.

“In the interview referred to no implication or reference was made that implied that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had any relevance for the tragic events in Paris. We condemn all acts of terror. We must now unite as democracies to fight for our common values in these challenging times.”

During a question-and-answer session withThe Jerusalem Post's chief diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon Netanyahu repeated his criticism of the Swedish foreign minister accusing her of having a "fundamental misunderstanding of the sources of terrorism."

"There are no good terrorists and bad terrorists" Netanyahu said. "There are only bad terrorists."

The premier said that Iran and ISIS are the two main propagators of militant Islam and that "you will not win them over or pacify them."

"The only way is to defeat them in the same way that Nazism was defeated" Netanyahu said.

"First you defeat then you denazify" he said. "That's the order. that's the priority."