Video: European Parliament Vice President calls customs officials Nazis, shouts Heil Hitler at Frankfurt Airport
I would love to see video of the actual incident....
European Parliament Vice President Jacek Protasiewicz, who is Polish, made a drunken scene at Frankfurt's airport on Wednesday, calling customs officials Nazis and shouting at them "Heil Hitler," according to reports in the German media.
Let's go to the videotape.
More after the video (which is a Polish news report).
According to German daily Bild, the Polish politician
disembarked from a plane at the airport, visibly drunk, and then caught
the attention of customs officials when he stole a man's baggage cart
and sprinted toward the exit.
When the officials asked Protasiewicz for identification, he began to
hurl insults at them, calling them names such as "Hitler" and "Nazi,"
asking them, "Were you ever in Auschwitz?" Bild reported.
The
German daily quoted an eyewitness as saying "the man appeared to be
very drunk when he shouted in English that he was from the EU."
Police were then called to the scene, forcibly removing Protasiewicz in handcuffs when he refused to accompany them peacefully.
The
German daily noted that Protasiewicz enjoys immunity as a member of the
European Parliament and is therefore unlikely to face prosecution.
Polish
news portal RMF 24 quoted Protasiewicz as denying being drunk and
explaining that he was responding to the rude behavior of a Frankfurt
Airport official.
Protasiewicz said that he showed the official
his documentation upon request. "When he saw my diplomatic passport, he
was displeased that he could not demonstrate his power over me, a
passenger from Eastern Europe. Giving me the passport he used the word
"raus" [out]. This word worked on me a bit like a red rag to a bull. I'm
still from the generation that remembers the atmosphere of post-war
[Europe] and "raus" in Poland is associated with German arrogance, not
with a polite civil servant.
According to Protasiewicz, he
explained to the customs official that "raus" in Poland has associations
like "Heil Hitler." He continued: "This upset the officer. He started
to push me, so I said to him that before using force, let him consider
Auschwitz. Auschwitz, because it is the best lesson in humility."
When
asked about reports that he was drunkenly staggering and stammering,
Protasiewicz claimed that he has only had one glass of wine on the
plane.
Must have been an awfully big glass....
Those Europeans... they're so dignified....
Labels: Adolph Hitler, European Parliament, European Union, Nazis
Dumkopf offended that Israelis found him offensive
With apologies to those of you who did not grow up in the 60's and therefore don't get the reference in the post's title or the picture....
European parliament speaker Martin Schulz is
offended that so many Israeli Knesset members found him offensive.
These officials said that Schulz was “surprised and hurt” and stressed
that “he is a friend of Israel” who came to Jerusalem to "express
support for Israel and strengthen it."
...
The officials who spoke to Walla! said that Schulz wanted to
visit Israel to show support for the peace process and deliver a clear
message that he opposes boycotts against Israel, which he had done a day earlier when he spoke at the Hebrew University.
"He never imagined he would be embroiled into such a storm," they
said. "His goal was to strengthen Israel, and the Israeli response
reinforces those elements who have a negative attitude towards Israel.”
The officials added that Schulz was particularly hurt by Bennett’s
remarks and by the fact that Bennett had chosen to use Schulz’s German
citizenship in order to attack him, referring to Bennett’s statements
that he “listened attentively to the European Parliament Chairman's
speech... he expressed friendship towards Israel and pain and empathy
regarding the Holocaust and the past.”
Schultz was further offended, according to the EU officials, by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s remarks. Netanyahu responded from the Knesset plenum to the furor surrounding Schulz’s speech, saying the European President had not bothered to check the facts.
The officials explained that Europe had expected Netanyahu to
reprimand Bennett for his criticism and positively emphasize Schulz’s
opposition to boycotts. Instead, they said, Netanyahu joined the
criticism and presented Schulz as a sucker who is influenced by
Palestinian lies.
I would say that portrayal is pretty accurate... a sucker who is influenced by 'Palestinian' lies.
And that's putting a nice spin on what he said....
Schulz himself admitted, in conversation with the German magazine Die Welt on Wednesday night, that he had been surprised by the reaction his speech received.
"I was surprised and filled with sadness in the face of the criticism," he told the magazine, stressing that he is pro-Israel.
Schulz further said that he was obliged to present to the Knesset the
position of the European Parliament and could not “restrict my remarks
to things that everyone loves to hear.”
We don't love the European parliament very much do we... and the feeling is more than mutual.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, European anti-Semitism, European Parliament, Israeli Knesset, Naftali Bennett, Palestinian lies
Kadima MK's back 'partner for democracy' status for PLO in EU
Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National Union) has left a Knesset delegation to the European Parliament on the grounds that the putative chair of the delegation - Doron Avital of Kadima - supported the PLO being granted 'partner for democracy' status by the European Union, and because Avital used his status as 'head' of the delegation to
prevent Eldad from speaking out against the proposal.
"Instead of fighting the Palestinians' attempt to better its international status in the Council of Europe, Avital supported the move, even when some European parliamentarians opposed accepting them as 'Partners for Democracy,'" Eldad said.
The National Union MK explained that "head delegate" is a symbolic position, and "a delegation leader has never taken advantage of his position in this way before, acting like the power had gone to his head."
Avital gave himself "the exclusive right to speak before the European Council," according to Eldad.
"When he realized that even his fellow Kadima member, Rachel Adatto, would not align herself with Avital's opinions, he would not allow other delegation members to speak," Eldad said.
Once Eldad was given the opportunity to speak, Avital prefaced his words by saying the National MK's opinions did not represent "the stance of the Knesset."
"I did not come to Strasbourg to hear harmful words from Arabs and hatred of Israel from some of the European parliamentarians without being allowed to respond," the National Union MK stated upon his return to Israel.
Following Eldad's departure, Avital told The Jerusalem Post: "Eldad had the opportunity to express his opinion before the European Parliament, and used it to say that Jordan is the Palestinian State. This stance is irresponsible, and not shared with the government of Israel or most Members of Knesset."
"If Eldad claims to represent the State of Israel," Avital added, "he should at least listen to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Bar Ilan speech, in which he discusses the future Palestinian state and its borders."
Avital also said that his support for the Palestinians' status was accepted as "responsible and mature" by the European Parliament. He explained that, while the PLO is now a "Partner for Democracy," the status will be subject to review biannually, and requires "steps towards democratization and a long list of demands.
"The democratization of Palestinian society is a clear Israeli interest," the Kadima MK concluded.
Who gives an opposition MK the power to decide what is a 'clear Israeli interest'? Do Netanyahu and the coalition believe that granting 'partner in democracy' status to an organization that seeks to destroy the State of Israel, and whose alleged 'democracy' has not held an election for more than three years since the term of its 'President' expired is a 'clear Israeli interest'?
Whatever Netanyahu's views may be, they seem to be much closer to Eldad's views than to Avital's. Especially given the Foreign Ministry's relatively robust defense of Israel's right to the entire country - at least recently - one would hope that members of the coalition will speak out against what Avital did and ensure that it will not happen again.
Labels: Arieh Eldad, Doron Avital, European Parliament, Knesset delegation, partner for democracy status, PLO
35 European MP's of the Right visit Samaria
35 European MP's from Right-wing parties visited Samaria on Monday.
Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip:
David H).
The parliamentarians were apparently
impressed.
The delegation of senior European parliamentarians toured Samaria's Jewish communities Monday as guests of the Samaria Liaison Office, which said the group was “unprecedented” in its political importance. The parliamentarians learned from up close about the strategic value of the region and visited sites of historic and biblical significance.
The delegation included 35 senior European parliamentarians from Austria, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Britain and Sweden, including some who are believed likely to one day head their countries. Germany, Austria and Italy, under extreme right-wing parties, were at the heart of the Axis that fought a genocidal war against the Jewish nation and a war of conquest against the Allied Powers in the 1930's and 40's.
A spokesman for the Shomron (Samaria) local authority explained that most of the visitors were from what is known as the “New Right” in Europe. These are parties that support Israel, renounce anti-Semitism and see the Islamic takeover of Europe as a clear danger, the Samaria spokesman said. Most of the touring parliamentarians were Christians, while some were Jews. The visitors agreed that Judea and Samaria constitute Jewish land.
The group included Heinz-Christian Strache, head of the German Freedom Party, who is seen as a likely candidate to become the next chancellor of Austria; Filip Dewinter of Belgium's Vlaams Belang party; MP Frank Creyelman, who heads the Belgian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee; René Stadtkewitz, Chairman of Germany's Freedom Party; and Claus Pandi, editor-in-chief of Krone Zeitung, the biggest newspaper in Austria. The visit coincides with that of Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders in Israel.
The parliamentarians visited secular and religious communities including Barkan, Elon Moreh and Har Bracha, in order to get a better understanding of Jewish residents' motivation for living in the contested biblical land.
If the European Right starts siding with us, that would be wonderful. By the way, that's
David H talking at the end of the video.
Labels: European Parliament, Filip Dewinter, Geert Wilders, Samaria
