Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Francois Zimeray has released a dramatic announcement to the press. He announced that he had presented to the office of the European Parliament (EP) president a demand for the formation of a committee to investigate the misuse of European Union aid to the Palestinian Authority, signed by over 170 EMPs. Under European law, such a demand requires the signatures of 157 EMPs, or 25% of the 626-member EP. The number of signatures is a sign of the petition initiators’ success in pro-Arab Europe.
For months MEPs Zimeray (France), Ilka Schroeder (Germany), Willy de Clercq (Belgium), and other EP members representing different countries and parties, strove to convince their colleagues that their demand for an investigative committee was essential. They had to face the direct opposition of Commissioner in charge of European Commission External Relations Christopher Patten, who did not always observe the rules of the game. Last December Patten stated directly, “I need Zimeray's investigative committee like a hole in the head.”
Zimeray, 42, a Jewish lawyer from Paris and a French Socialist, is an unusual figure on the European Socialist left, for whom Israel-bashing has sometime appeared to be a supreme obsession. Zimeray, who maintains a large, prosperous law firm in Paris, divides his time between Paris; Rouen, his EP constituency; and the EP locations in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Among other things, Zimeray is vice-chairman of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Israel, a member of the EP foreign affairs and defense committee, president of the Conseil de la Communaute de l'Agglomeration Rouennaise in Normandy, and is responsible for a number of initiatives, of which the investigation into EU aid to the PA is only one.
The main factor that persuaded many EP members to sign the investigation petition was the fact that the PA used some of the EU money to compensate the families of suicide bombers. “I don’t oppose EU aid to the PA. On the contrary; I would even be willing to increase it, provided that the money reaches the people, is used for Palestinian economic development and education, and promotes reconciliation between the two peoples,” Zimeray’s press release said.
At this stage, the success in gathering signatures on the petition only guarantees that the issue will be raised. No one will be surprised if the investigating committee never actually comes into being, given the intensive activity of the strong pro-Arab lobby in Europe. This, however, does not deter Zimeray, who uses every available means to promote Israel’s interests in Europe.
For example, Zimeray reacts angrily when the idea of a business and academic boycott of Israel is regularly raised in Europe. “In Europe, a boycott is considered a criminal offense,” he stresses. “I won’t tolerate a company, or any other entity, calling for a boycott against Israel.”
On January 25, Zimeray won support in an unexpected quarter, when French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin threatened to imprison anyone calling for a boycott of Israeli products. Raffarin issued his threat during the traditional banquet of the roof organization of French Jewry - CRIF (Conseil Representatif des Institutions Juives de France). During the same banquet, CRIF president M. Roger Cukierman said, “Anti-Zionism is the new anti-Semitism,” which angered the representative of Les Verts (the French Green Party), and led him to leave the hall.
Zimeray was also present at the banquet. He admitted that Cukiermans’ remark was not accepted diplomatic behavior, but nevertheless added that the statement “was very clear, which is a good thing.” He also said, “The anti-boycott law in Europe is not new, but we must now enforce it more aggressively.”
In Zimeray’s eyes, Europe is Israel’s most important partner, “and Europe is not a lost cause for Israelis. Europeans understand the Israelis better than their governments do. This is also true of France, which is the Western country with the strongest Muslim influence. People sometimes show more wisdom than their politicians. The people understand terrorism. They certain understand the suffering of the Palestinians, but they also understand the Israeli side, and don’t agree with their leaders’ demonstrations of weakness.”
Zimeray attributes the slowdown in trade between Israel and European countries affecting both imports and exports to the global economic situation, not anti-Semitism. “When the global recession ends, business between Israel and Europe will pick up, and the trade figures will improve,” he says. “It should be reiterated that Israel is an important partner for Europe, and Europe is of critical importance for Israel.”
Meanwhile, Zimeray is trying to succeed where Israeli public relation efforts have failed. Yes, he believes Israel’s public relations should be more effective, and could be improved, particularly in view of what he terms “the globalization of anti-Semitism.” “Europe thinks of the Jews, Israel and the Israeli government as a single entity. Since Israel’s policy is rejected, so are all the other components of the entity,” he theorizes.
According to Zimeray, “Europeans want to get rid of their old feelings of guilt about the Jews, which are hard to live with. That’s why they characterize Israel as a Nazi country, and Sharon as a dictator. That’s obviously wrong, but it serves their need to rid themselves of their guilty feelings. That’s easier to do, when they say that yesterday’s victims are now doing to others what was done to them. That’s very seductive, because then the collective European ‘we’ isn’t so guilty. For the Europeans, supporting the Palestinians is a form of self-therapy. What’s is really terrible is that this therapy, and the policy it engenders is costing the lives of innocent Israelis.”
Another element in European antagonism towards Israel is the need to be different from the US. “I think anti-Americanism is Europe’s new 'ism', and Israel is paying the price,” Zimeray says. “Israel is considered one of the United States, and is therefore included in the hostility towards the US.”
Zimeray believes that until some dramatic event forces Europe has to directly face the problem of terrorism, it will not understand what Israel faces. “It’s very disheartening to think that even the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US did not wake people up, but it’s a fact,” he comments. “It should be realized that as long as comprehension of terrorism is lacking, Europe will not understand Israel turn to the political right in the elections. Although terrorist cells have been discovered in various European countries, European politicians simply lack an understanding of terrorism.”
Next year, Zimeray plans to promote the establishment of a European-wide Jewish lobby something like a European version of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). According to Zimeray, “The Jewish communities in Europe are organized where religion is concerned, but have not been organized into a political force. I think this is necessary. Such a body could act according to the political culture of Europe, not the US, but the essence is the same the creation of a Jewish lobby, which would affect European policy.”
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on February 6, 2003