Tag Archive for Catherine Ashton

| June 16, 2014
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Jerusalem baffled at EU refusal to make kidnapping condemnation

While the int’l community had condemned the kidnapping of 3 Jewish Israeli youths by Sunday, Catherine Ashton’s office at the EU has yet to issue any statement.

 

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, June 20, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Abir Sultan/Pool

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s failure to quickly condemn the kidnappings of Naphtali Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach has “not gone unnoticed,” diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said on Monday.

Meeting of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with EU Foreign Commissioner Catherine Ashton in Jerusalem. January 26, 2012 – Photo: Amos Ben Gershom, GPO

The officials said that while the US, Canada, Great Britain, Spain, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the International Committee of the Red Cross all condemned the kidnappings by Sunday, as of Monday afternoon there was no statement from Ashton or her office. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 19, 2014
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AGAIN: EU’s Catherine Ashton demands Israel stop building homes for Jews

Catherine Ashton focuses pressure on Netanyahu to make further concessions to  restart ailing peace talks by freezing construction for Jews homes in Judea & Samaria.

By Ari Soffer

 

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called on Israel to reverse recent announcements regarding construction in Judea and Samaria in order to advance peace talks.

Catherine Ashton – Reuters

Ashton said she viewed with “great concern” an Israeli decision to declare an area near the Gush Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem as state land and the recognition of Jewish rights to the disputed Peace House in the Judean city of Hevron, a statement from her office said Friday. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| August 12, 2013
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Egyptian Christian Leader tells the EU & US to back off in ‘Open Letter’

 

 

Western maneuvering to quietly reinstate the Muslim Brotherhood baffles Egypt’s frightened & persecuted Christians.

By Ashraf Ramelah

 

The following is an open letter from Egyptian Christian Dr. Ashraf Ramelah, director of Voice of the Copts, to European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who, together with leading American officials, has been working to reinstall Muslim Brotherhood rule in Egypt.

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I have followed with great interest your latest visit to my native country of Egypt — particularly your request to free former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.

Sources in Egypt inform me that Egyptians fear that your aim to have Morsi and Muslim Brotherhood leaders released from custody and dismissed from their day in court. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| August 8, 2013
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Israel Won’t Sign EU Agreements With Bias Settlement Conditions

Jerusalem says that until there’s a clarification in the wording of the EU’s guidelines excluding any part of post-’67 borders, Israel will refuse to sign any agreements.

By JTA

 

 

JERUSALEM — Israel reportedly will not sign any new agreements with the European Union that fall under the body’s new guidelines concerning the ‘occupied territories’, without changes in the wording.

High Representative of the European Union Catherine Ashton – Photo AP

High Representative of the European Union Catherine Ashton – Photo: AP

The decision to ask the EU to reword, or “clarify,” the guidelines was made Thursday at a meeting at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv called by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and attended by government ministers, Haaretz reported.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| June 24, 2013
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EU backs down to avoid undermining Kerry’s peace efforts

Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia & Romania, recommending that the ministers in their meetings just adopt a general statement supporting Kerry’s efforts.

By HERB KEINON

 

 

 

In a move surely to be applauded in Jerusalem, the European Union foreign ministers are unlikely to issue detailed conclusions on the Middle East peace process following their monthly meeting on Monday in Luxembourg.

Netanyahu at meeting with Catherine Ashton, EU High Rep for Foreign Affairs, June 20, 2013. – Photo: Courtesy – GPO

 

Both Israeli and European officials said certain key EU actors were impacted by Jerusalem’s arguments that a detailed European statement right now regarding how the EU envisions the peace process would only serve to undermine US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to get the sides back to the negotiating table.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| June 17, 2013
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EU’s Obsession against Israel is hindrance towards peace

Officials in Jerusalem to tell EU foreign policy chief Ashton, that “obsessive” focus on settlements and nothing on violent Palestinian attacks, incitement, or corruption gives the PA a ‘free pass’, undermining efforts to resume peace talks.

By HERB KEINON

 

 

 

Israeli leaders are expected to tell EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, when she arrives in the country on Thursday, that the EU’s “obsessive” focus on settlements is “undermining” efforts to restart peace negotiations by giving the Palestinians the impression that no matter what they do, European diplomatic fire will always be aimed at Israel.

Catherine Ashton and PM Binyamin Netanyahu

Catherine Ashton and PM Binyamin Netanyahu – Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO

Ashton is scheduled to visit the country as part of a regional tour that will also take her to Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and areas under the Palestinian Authority’s control.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| June 10, 2013
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Liberman: Stop ‘pointless’ dialog with the EU. Time to cut them off

Former FM Liberman called the EU decision not to add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations “hypocrisy incarnate”. The EU makes demands of Israel in relation to peace talks, but does nothing in return.

By LAHAV HARKOV, HERB KEINON

 

 

Israel should not continue to let the European Union get involved in diplomatic affairs, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Avigdor Liberman said Monday after sending a sharply-worded letter to EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton urging her to include Hezbollah in the EU list of terrorist groups.

Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman - Photo Marc Israel Sellem,The Jerusalem Post

Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem,The Jerusalem Post

Speaking at a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, Liberman called the EU decision not to add Hezbollah to its list of terrorist organizations “hypocrisy incarnate,” which would “make the EU irrelevant, as far as we’re concerned, when it comes to dealing with the region.”

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 12, 2013
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Mistaken utterance, or did EU’s Ashton give Jews equal rights to pray in Jerusalem

Statement by EU high representative Ashton called for full religious freedom in Jerusalem while defending non-Jews.

Jews wonder if that also means allowing Jews the right to pray at their Most Holy site, the Temple Mount.

By Ryan Jones

 

Israel might have just scored European Union support for finally allowing Jews the right to pray atop Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, the holiest site in the world for Jews and many Christians.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton with Salam Fayyad - Reuters

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton with Salam Fayyad – Reuters

Whether or not it was her intent, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton on Friday issued a call for religious freedom in Jerusalem that by definition must also include Jewish access to the Temple Mount. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| March 19, 2013
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EU Signs Money Deal With PA, Cites ‘Palestinian State’

The European Union signed an aid deal Tuesday with the Palestinian Authority to reportedly bolster ties and promote economic development for the State of Palestine.

Fayyad said Area C “is of vital importance to the economic and political viability” of a future “Palestinian state,” despite Jewish claims to the land.

By Arutz Sheva staff

 

The European Union signed an aid deal Tuesday with the Palestinian Authority to reportedly bolster ties and promote economic development.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton with Salam Fayyad - Reuters

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton with Salam Fayyad – Reuters

EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton told visiting Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that an action plan approved by EU leaders was based on a “shared commitment to deepen our bilateral relations and strengthen our privileged partnership,” AFP reported. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| February 18, 2013
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Bulgarian FM urges EU to recognize Hezbollah as terrorist organization

Sofia urges EU to blacklist Hezbollah as a terrorist organization & make an effort to prevent further attacks to EU members.

 

The European Union must take collective action against Hezbollah, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov said on Monday morning.
Relatives of a victim of the Burgas bomb attack

Relatives of a victim of the Burgas bomb attack – Photo: REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov

Mladenov attended a meeting in Brussels to brief his counterparts on an initial investigative Bulgarian report which blamed Hezbollah for the bombing outside the Burgas airport that killed five Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver last July.

“We believe the attack that happened in Burgas last year was organized by people connected to the military wing of Hezbollah,” Mladenov said.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 15, 2013
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Polish call to Ashton: Make Efforts to Acknowledge Hizbullah as Terror Group

Polish MEP Michal Tomasz Kaminski has called on EU’s Ashton to step up Europe’s efforts to designate Hizbullah a terrorist organization and stop their operations in EU member states as bases for money-laundering & fundraising.

By Elad Benari

 

Polish MEP Michal Tomasz Kaminski on Thursday called on EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to step up Europe’s efforts to designate Hizbullah a terrorist organization after last week’s Bulgarian’s report that the Lebanese group was behind the terror attack on Israeli tourists in Burgas in July 2012.

Hezbollah rocket launcher

Hezbollah rocket launcher, used to kill Israeli civilians, in violation to the Geneva Conventions

The European Jewish Press (EJP) reported that in a written question to Ashton, ahead of Monday’s meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers where the issue is likely to come under discussion, Kaminski asked why the EU remains “reluctant to call Hizbulllah by its proper name”, after Ashton’s official response to the Burgas findings expressed “the need for a reflection over the outcome of the investigation.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| January 27, 2013
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On Int’l Holocaust Memorial Day, EU’s Aston says “never forget”

EU’s foreign policy chief Ashton paid tribute to Holocaust survivors.

Germany’s Chancellor Merkel reiterated, responsibility for Nazi crimes is eternal.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, BLOOMBERG

 

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton paid a special tribute to Holocaust survivors, in a statement released on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday.

Greeks wave swastikas to greet Merkel - Photo by REUTERS-Yannis Behrakis

Ashton said that the survivors of the Holocaust “remind us of this tragedy that we must never forget.”

“Today we remember the victims of the Holocaust. We honor every one of the six million who were brutally murdered in this darkest period of European history,” Ashton stated.

She stressed the importance of remembering that the crime was not perpetrated by a few individuals, but that many were involved directly and indirectly.

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