Israel Matzav

Europeans to Hezbullah: Just not in my backyard

Some of you may remember the picture above and the post that went with it. The picture was taken at the train station in Bologna, Italy on August 2, 1980. I missed being there by a couple of days.

Italy thought it had a deal with the PLO not to carry out terror attacks on its soil. It was wrong.

The European Union is about to repeat the mistake.

The EU may declare Hezbullah a designated terror organization, but only if they reach the conclusion that Hezbullah was behind the terror attack at a Bulgarian airport a few months ago. Sound familiar? It should.

Spain’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gonzalo de Benito and France’s Ambassador to Israel Christophe Bigot told The Jerusalem Post this month that the outcome of the Bulgarian investigation into the murders of five Israelis and a Bulgarian bus driver is the sine qua non of listing the Lebanese Shi’ite group as a terror entity on the EU’s list of outlawed terrorist organizations. Critics see the limited inquiry as a grave mistake.

Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Washington- based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Post on Saturday, “It is absurd that a European decision on whether or not to ban Hezbollah as a terrorist organization comes down to the results of a single terrorist attack investigation in Bulgaria.

Hezbollah has much American and European blood on its hands after three decades of attacks against innocent civilians, diplomats and peacekeepers.”

De Benito termed the Bulgarian inquiry “essential” and relegated Hezbollah’s bombing of 58 French paratroopers in 1983 to an inferior status. Bigot agreed that the main element in determining Hezbollah’s status is the outcome of the Bulgaria inquiry.

While both diplomats are cognizant of Hezbollah’s nefarious activities in murdering Europeans and other victims, the EU ostensibly has narrowed its departure point to ban Hezbollah to Burgas — the seaside resort where, according to US and Israeli intelligence officials, a joint Iran-Hezbollah operation killed six people and injured 32 Israelis in July.

Dubowitz said Hezbollah is an Iranian surrogate, and that the Islamic Republic uses it “as the long arm of Iranian influence worldwide.

“The Iranian regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons makes it even more urgent that Europe respond by targeting all instruments of Iranian power, of which Hezbollah is one of the most uncompromising, ruthless and deadly.”

Read the whole thing.

By basing its decision solely on the Bulgarian attack, Europe is telling Hezbullah it's okay to carry out terror attacks anywhere else outside of Europe.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Bulgaria, designated terror organization, European Union, Hezbullah, Islamic terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:41 PM