Brussels, 04/12/2009 (Agence Europe) - Leila Shahid, Palestinian Delegate General to Brussels, does not expect any new European stances on Jerusalem beyond what has been said until now, despite claims published by Israeli daily Haaretz that the Swedish Presidency of the EU was preparing to put a document to European foreign ministers calling for “a viable Palestinian state, comprising the West Bank and Gaza, and with East Jerusalem as its capital”. The 20-page document, containing a number of maps, was, it was claimed, drafted on the initiative of the United Kingdom Consul General in Jerusalem. It is the result of contributions from EU Consuls General in post in Jerusalem and heads of member states' offices in Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority is based. A similar report was prepared last year, but never published, EUROPE reported.
Since the annexation of the city, de facto after the 1967 war and formally by means of an Israeli law of 1980, Jerusalem has been at the heart of political debate between Israel and all its interlocutors: Palestinians, Arabs, Europeans and even Americans. None has recognised Israel's full sovereignty over the city, the eastern part of which remained, in the eyes of the international community, Palestinian and, with very few exceptions, such as Costa Rica, no countries established an Embassy there. The EU member states agreed, however, to put Consulates in Jerusalem, their diplomatic status being lesser in terms of recognising Israeli sovereignty over this area. These Consulates played a major role in successive Palestinian elections for which Israel allowed only very restricted freedom of movement. It will be recalled the irritation felt in Israel with each visit by a European to the “Eastern House”, a building occupied by the now deceased Palestinian leader Fayçal Husseini, considered the symbol of the Palestinian presence in the “Holy City”.
The Swedish Presidency wanted, from the start of its six-month term of office it would seem, to clarify the position, but it was very quickly halted, perhaps even discouraged, by Israeli accusations following a report in a weekly publication on the removal of organs from Palestinian bodies which was judged to be offensive towards the Israeli army. Relations between Stockholm and Tel Aviv have not, therefore, been the most serene over the last few months. As it approaches the end of its term of office, and with the situation on the ground deadlocked as a result of Israeli desires to speed up its settlement policy to isolate Jerusalem from the West bank, Sweden would have liked the European position on Jerusalem to be restated by member states. It would have liked, in the current context, to go a bit further, making the European stance explicit, with the statement that East Jerusalem might be considered a future - and hypothetical - capital of a Palestinian state (the establishment of which is being prepared thanks to substantial European aid, aid which in no way implies any commitment to grant a unilaterally declared independent Palestinian state international recognition). There is no reason, according to Leila Shahid, in this “step forward”, for the Israeli media and those of Israel's allies to rail against what is being presented as a major advance against Israel and for Palestine. She detects, in this press movement, pre-emptive attempts to dissuade any member states which are still hesitating over further commitment on the Middle East.
Only Monday's Council deliberations will tell, after the final consultations (COREPER) among member states which were continuing on Friday.
In the meantime, the “new” European position is the headline in the Israeli media and on all Arab satellite channels. “Jerusalem must not be divided. Rather than resolve the situation, that would only make it worse,” said Reouven Rivlin, Speaker of the Knesset. “Sharing the capital would lead to a volcanic eruption that would be difficult to contain. Scission would bring chaos,” he added. Kadima MP Ohanan Plesner, who heads the League for Israeli-Swedish Friendship, blames Netanyahu. “This is a clear indication that Israel's image has been seriously compromised,” he said, gong on, “And it is because of government decisions. Instead of taking the peace process in hand, as Israel has already done, the government has nothing to offer. Jerusalem is paying the cost of these diplomatic shortcomings,” he said. (F.B./transl.rt)