Swiss attack on Israeli policy escalates ‘cold war’

Switzerland is refusing to toe the West’s line on sanctions against Iran – and Israel is up in arms

FIRST POSTED NOVEMBER 17, 2008

In an attack which shocked Tel Aviv by the harshness of its tone, Switzerland has accused Israel of wantonly destroying Palestinian homes in east Jerusalem and near Ramallah in violation of the Geneva Convention's rules on military occupation.

It's arguably the strongest condemnation of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians to come from any western European country since Charles de Gaulle famously attacked the "oppression, repression and expulsions" of Palestinians by Israel over 40 years ago. And it's come from a country that's not exactly famous for making strong condemnations.

The statement last Thursday from the Swiss Foreign Ministry said that Switzerland - the guardian of the Geneva Convention - regards the "recent incidents", under which scores of Palestinian homes have been destroyed by Israeli bulldozers, as "violations of international humanitarian law" and claimed there was "no military need to justify the destruction of these

Switzerland regards the recent destruction of Palestinian homes by Israeli bulldozers, as "violations of international humanitarian law"

houses". In addition, the Swiss called east Jerusalem an "integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory" - a statement sure to inflame hard-line Zionists who regard the entire city as belonging to Israel.

The Swiss attack on Israeli actions might surprise some, but it is only the latest incident in a rising 'cold war' between the Alpine republic and the Jewish state. Earlier this year, Israel summoned Swiss Ambassador Walter Haffner to its Foreign Ministry offices in Jerusalem to protest against Switzerland's signing of a multi-billion dollar energy deal with Iran.

So incensed were Zionists when Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey wore a headscarf and was pictured smiling and joking with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran, that the Anti-Defamation League placed a series of advertisements in various national newspapers - including Swiss ones - which claimed that Switzerland's energy deal with Iran

Add to:

Comments

Hide comments

Switzerland does indeed have an unimpeachable record on human rights: not! During the 2nd World War they didn't persecute anyone, they just turned away the Jews who went to them for asylum and knowlingly sent them to their deaths and then stole the money of depositors who became victims of the holocaust. In fact, when it comes to persecution etc, Switzerland in fact does not have clean hands.

Posted by Michael Rubinstein at 11:15am on November 18, 2008

How surprising the only comment on this story is from a hard-line Zionist peddling lies. Fact remains that despite anything historical raked up, this is now and Israel is behaving like a fascist state, as many progressive Jews round the world have commented. The people running Israel mostly suffered nothing in the war, but trade on the Holocaust for sympathy and moral superiority while behaving like the very Nazis they despise. Time for Israel to wake up to what has happened to their country, including controlling the rabid settlers, who are mostly extreme right wing American immigrants who have no claims over Palestinians who have lived in the region for hundreds of generations. The crimes of the Israeli state against Palestinians are what fuels Islamic extremism worldwide, so we all have a right to comment, including Switzerland.

Posted by Peter Simmons at 11:42am on November 21, 2008