Sycophancy and Punishment Maariv (p.

22) by Nadav Haetzni (op-ed) -- The EU decision highlights, first and foremost, the fact that Europe is no different from what it was. The one-sidedness, the distortion, the wholesale hatred for us that overshadows all decency and logicthese continue to characterize the Europe of 2013, just as it characterized it from the Middle Ages and until the Holocaust. Europe is incapable of defining Hizbullah as a terror organization, it does not boycott and isolate Iran, it is paralyzed when faced with the slaughter in Syria, but it persecutes us with all its might. But the real story here is not Europe, but rather us. The current decision, like the other European decisions hostile toward us, are mainly Jewish labor. They are the fruit of ongoing and feverish efforts by Israeli figures working in global corridors for years to persuade the world to boycott us. This decision, firstly, is a victory of all the extreme left wing Israelis who have despaired of the democratic game in Israel and for years have been working outside of Israel in an attempt to twist our arm. The people who call for boycotts also demand prosecuting Israeli officers in Europe and go to all kinds of international committees bearing a variety of lies. The decision also reflects a resounding failure of the architects of the policy of ignoring European subversion of Israel. The Europeans particularly act in Israel as if the Mandate were not over. They dare to act here in a way that they would not dare to act in any other friendly and democratic country. They meddle in domestic politics and legal affairs, they fund several organizations known as human rights organizations and they undermine, by means of the money that they pour like water, the foundations of Israeli society and government. We know of this and we have been silent for years. Were we to dare to fund, in Britain, Switzerland in Norway, what these governments dare to fund here, they would expel our ambassador and sever relations with us without batting an eye. But beyond everything else, this is a fiasco of the prime ministers policy, who is always trying to be more flexible, to concede, to relinquish, to pass the ball to the other side in order so that he not be blamed. This is also the same failed strategy now being taken to counter the one-sidedness and blindness of the American secretary of state. Anyone who freezes Jewish construction in Jerusalem, who displays restraint to Palestinian incitement in the media and in textbooks, and who continues to transfer money to the Palestinians even though they constantly violate the Oslo Accordshe is responsible for the stinging European slap in the face. That is why only one conclusion can be drawn from the latest European impudenceits time to change direction. The basic answer to Europe

should be: no thanks, we wont sell ourselves. We will not discriminate against any person or area of land in return for money or benefits. If the agreements with you turn into attempts at extortion by means of threats and temptations, then no thank you. But the change of direction that we should take is much more far-reaching: as early as in the course of this summer, Israel must complete legislation limiting donations from foreign governments and organizations to Israeli organizations, at least the way it works in the US. And, of course, legislation must be completed against public boycotts and boycotters of Israel. At the same time, the restrictions on European organizations active here must be tightened. European projects for the Palestinians, particularly in Areas C and B, must be stopped, and above all we must resume, full steam, construction in Jerusalem and its environs. Not just in Har Homa and in Gilo, but firstly in E-1 between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim. If the Europeans want a reason for this boycott, there you have it. Only by doing so is there any chance that it will learn a lesson, only this way is there a chance that we will be able to retain our independence and liberty.