# Israel ! stay the hell away from EU **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 29, 2002, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508 "2002-12-29T15:41:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![RobertTB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RobertTB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobertTB)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/81 "2002-12-29T22:41:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Naxox\_dec.2002 \* > \*\*i don’t see the point in arguing about this anylonger, but you are wrong \*\* I speak some European, so let me try to talk to this one: **Naxox\_dec.2002** , If their trousers burn, it does not blame Israel. She is its mothers criticizes that you are not so shining, does not damage it of the Jews. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/82 "2002-12-29T22:59:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Early Out \* > \*\*Israel has been a member of the U.N. [since 1949](http://www.un.org/Overview/unmember.html). \*\* True. However, Israel is not allowed on the Security Council. ---
**Author:** ![dave316](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dave316](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dave316)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/83 "2002-12-29T23:00:16Z")
AIPAC [http://www.aipac.org/](http://www.aipac.org/) [http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=245188&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=245188](http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=245188&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y&itemNo=245188) The law does not impose any limitations on the foreign agent’s sphere of activity, except for the requirement to report on that activity. But that’s enough of a deterrent. The pro-Israel lobby in the United States, AIPAC, is very careful to preserve its status as a local American lobby, and so far has succeeded in blocking efforts to have it labeled as a “foreign agent,” which is the status, for example, of the PLO office in Washington. but the majority of the lobbying is being done by Christians [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2002/05/06/crusade.html](http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/2002/05/06/crusade.html) Yet Bush has never had it easy with Jewish voters: 80% of them voted against him in 2000, and some–mindful of the U.S.'s occasional clashes with the Israeli government during the older Bush’s presidency–remain skeptical about the depth of W.'s commitment to Israel. Much of the pressure on Bush to throw his full support behind Sharon is coming from elsewhere. Today the most influential lobbying on behalf of Israel is being done by a group not usually seen as an ally of the largely Democratic Jewish community: Evangelical Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/84 "2002-12-29T23:15:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Naxox_ > the reason behind my post was that former Israeli pm Benjamin “Bibi” said that he wanted Israel to become a member of EU. > [@](#): > > _Sam_ > Would someone provide a cite that says Israel wants to join the EU? I can’t imagine that A) Israel would want to, and B) That the EU would even consider it. It wasn’t just Bibi, it was somebody else, too. [http://www.metimes.com/2K1/issue2001-11/reg/katsav\_says\_israel.htm](http://www.metimes.com/2K1/issue2001-11/reg/katsav_says_israel.htm) > [@](#): > > Katsav says Israel wants to join EU > BERLIN > > Israeli President Moshe Katsav is firmly in favor of his country joining the European Union, he said in an interview in the March 11 edition of Bild newspaper. > > “I would like Israel to be a member of the European Union,” Katsav told Bild am Sonntag. > > “We are a democratic state and we are economically and technologically at the European level. I hope there will be no resistance to our membership,” he added. [www.datelineisrael.com/sunday.htm+israel+eu+netanyahu+berlusconi&hl=en&lr=lang\_en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:RJUO2zqg3hEC:%5Burl)]Google cache. I already looked at the Post, I can’t find it offhand, besides they charge $$$ for articles. > [@](#): > > Netanyahu Wants Israel to Join European Union > > ([IsraelNN.com](http://IsraelNN.com)) Israel Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has asked Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to check the possibility of Israel becoming a member of the European Union, according to a report published in the Jerusalem Post. > [@](#): > > _Sam_ > Israel…isolated…U.N…Security Council…end-around to the WEOG. > [@](#): > > _Alessan:_ > Israel is not allowed on the Security Council. But… [http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/weog1.html](http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/weog1.html) > [@](#): > > A breakthrough in Israel’s fifty-year exclusion from UN bodies occurred on May 30, 2000, when Israel accepted an invitation to become a temporary member of Western European and Others (WEOG) regional group. While only temporary, this historic step could finally end the UN’s discrimination against Israel and open the door to Israeli participation in the Security Council. > > \< snip \> > > Israel’s membership to the WEOG is severely limited. Every four years Israel will have to reapply for membership, since its status is only temporary. Israel is not allowed to present candidacies for open seats in any UN body for two years and is not able to compete for major UN bodies, such as the Economic and Social Council, for a longer period. Also, for the next two years, Israeli representatives are not allowed to run for positions on the UN Council. > > Besides these restrictions, Israel is only allowed to participate in WEOG activities in the New York office of the UN. Israel is excluded from WEOG discussion and consultations at the UN offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome and Vienna; therefore, Israel can not participate in UN talks on human rights, racism and a number of other issues handled in these offices. > > In the future, Israel still hopes to gain membership in the Asian group. So we’re back to arguing about geography again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/85 "2002-12-29T23:15:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*True. However, Israel is not allowed on the Security Council. \*\* Now, that does surprise me, but according to [these folks](http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/uneligible.html), it’s because of a bizarre quirk of the rules, combined with Israel’s rather unfortunate geographical location (i.e., surrounded by hostiles). Obviously, that’s a situation that cries out for rectifying (by changing the rules, not by moving the country… though now that I think about it, that could cure a lot of problems!). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/86 "2002-12-29T23:28:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Early Out \* > \*\*Now, that does surprise me, but according to [these folks](http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/uneligible.html), it’s because of a bizarre quirk of the rules, combined with Israel’s rather unfortunate geographical location (i.e., surrounded by hostiles). Obviously, that’s a situation that cries out for rectifying (by changing the rules, not by moving the country… though now that I think about it, that could cure a lot of problems!). \*\* From your link: > [@](#): > > By geography, Israel should be part of the Asian bloc but such countries as Iraq and Saudi Arabia have prevented its entry for decades. You call that a bizzare quirk of the rules? You know, now that I think of it, if we weren’t at the meeting point of _three fucking continents_ we would have had a heck of a lot less trouble over the past 3000 years. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/87 "2002-12-29T23:59:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*You call that a bizzare quirk of the rules? \*\* I was referring to the requirement that a nation be part of a “regional group” before being allowed to be considered for Security Council membership. The rule should be, obviously, that _any_ member of the UN should be eligible. Zionism aside, for the moment, I’ve often wondered how different the world would look today if, at the end of WWII, a Jewish state had been created in, oh, say, Bavaria instead of the Middle East (also putting aside the psychological difficulties that would have presented for many of the survivors). After all, the Germans carried out the Holocaust, so why not take a chunk of their land from them? I suspect that, by now, Israel would be the economic and military powerhouse of Europe. The U.S. might well not have any particular quarrel with the Islamic countries of the Middle East. The list of “alternate” endings to the story goes on and on. Interesting, even if pointless… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/88 "2002-12-30T00:11:14Z")
I should have been clearer that I was talking about the Security Council, which is really what’s important to Israel. I don’t know how people can argue with a straight face that there is no anti-Israel bias in the U.N. Remember the Durban conference on Racism, which broke down into a hate-spewing anti-semitic rally that forced the U.S. and Israel to pull out? And of course, the fact that Israel has been blocked from being on the Security Council, and the disproportionate number of U.N. resolutions against Israel, which once again is the only Democracy in the region, and which has been repeatedly attacked by its neighbors. And yeah, the ‘bizarre quirk of the rules’ we’re talking about is that the regional group Israel SHOULD belong to is comprised of racist countries that hate Israel and have worked long and hard to prevent it from having representation. Some quirk. ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/89 "2002-12-30T00:20:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Naxox\_dec.2002 \* > \*\*as I have known all the time. They are wating for God to do soething, he dosn’t, so they do it them selves. Because they know deep inside that there are no god. > > It’s politic all the way boys > > The question is, what shall we do about such people \*\* What - exactly - do you mean by “such people”?, and why do “we” need to do **anything** about “them”? does anyone else get the feeling that half of the newbies are running their posts through babelfish ATM? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/90 "2002-12-30T01:06:10Z")
Darn! And here I thought the Jewish lobby was the room inside the doors to shul where coats and hats were placed! It’s a shame that anti-Semitism will still flare to a raging fire, given the slightest breeze. Think of how you’d feel if you and your people were subject to the same measure of persecution! Kiss your Bubbe and stop being a shmuck ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/91 "2002-12-30T02:09:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blackeyes \* > **Naxox\_dec.2002, you’re just a brain dead, stupid, uncircumcised schmuck.** Hey! What’s wrong with uncircumsised people? Racist! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/92 "2002-12-30T02:18:39Z")
I just decided to create _Ellis’s First Law_, which reads: In any thread that mentions circumcision, no matter how vaguely, Jack Dean Tyler will be mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/93 "2002-12-30T02:29:03Z")
Anger at being uncircumcised shouldn’t be considered racist, Coldfire. Notipposkinopenophobia? Hmm. fear of a marching regiment of angry, circumcised penii, bearing the bris knife! The Mohel Squad? Oy! ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/94 "2002-12-30T02:41:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Technically, Israel is supposed to be part of the ‘Asian Regional Group’, but the Arab nations have blocked Israel from joining - **the only country of its stature in the world that doesn’t have UN representation**. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Early Out \* > \*\*Israel has been a member of the U.N. [since 1949](http://www.un.org/Overview/unmember.html). \*\* However, if you do a search’n’replace on Sam Stone’s post, changing “Israel” to “Taiwan” and “Arab nations” to “China”, his post is 100% accurate. Funny world, ain’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/95 "2002-12-30T03:11:23Z")
Lookm, I know Israel is a member of the U.N. Go back and look at what I had to say about the Durban conference, now and in the past. It was a brain fart. I was thinking of the Security Council. And Taiwan should also have representation, except that its status is still under dispute. Israel’s isn’t. Taiwan still doesn’t have full recognition in a host of world organizations, such as the World Health organization and the WTO. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/96 "2002-12-30T03:20:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*You know, now that I think of it, if we weren’t at the meeting point of _three fucking continents_ we would have had a heck of a lot less trouble over the past 3000 years. \*\* Well, you know what they say about real estate: “Location, location, location.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/97 "2002-12-30T03:23:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xcheopis \* > \*\*Egypt is, in fact, located on the African continent, all of which is on the African plate. Why would you think otherwise? \*\* Sinai, which is part of Egypt, is in Asia. When you go there from Israel, you pass through Israeli border security, walk about a mile to Egyptian border security (the path is decorated with delightful signs that say “EGYPT ----\>”), and voila! You’re in Egypt. I’m pretty sure that there’s no continental dividing line in that mile. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/98 "2002-12-30T04:42:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*“No, we’re the _Judean People’s Front_! People’s Front of Judea, how dare you!” 🙂 \*\* “What ever happened to the Popular Front?” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/99 "2002-12-30T04:45:18Z")
“He’s over there.” ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2002, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508/100 "2002-12-30T11:05:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Naxox\_dec.2002 \* > \*\*banned?? for what reason ? \*\* I couldn’t say for sure. Being a seer is tricky business. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/israel-stay-the-hell-away-from-eu/145508.md?page=6)