France’s “massive” retaliation for the Paris attacks has irritated Israelis who feel that when Israel responds to terror it is held to a double standard by the international community. French President Francois Hollande called the terrorist attacks an act of war and promised that France would take revenge. On Sunday, 12 aircraft – including 10 fighter jets – dropped a total of 20 bombs on Raqqa, ISIS’ de-facto capital. “It was normal to take the initiative and action and France had the legitimacy to do so. We did it already in the past. We have conducted new airstrikes in Raqqa today,” France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. “One cannot be attacked harshly, and you know the drama that is happening in Paris, without being present and active.” Now Israelis are asking themselves how the world would respond had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the same remarks following Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis. They have little doubt that Netanyahu would be denigrated for suggesting that it was “normal” and “legitimate” to respond the way France has. Judith Bergman, an Israeli writer and political analyst, wrote in the Israeli daily Israel Hayom, “Every time the world is hit by mass terrorism, Israel
Author: Deborah Danan
Europe Obsessed With Boycotting Israel, Not Fighting Terror
TEL AVIV – The outrage sparked by the European Union’s decision to label Israeli goods made in eastern Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank is being voiced in myriad ways. Following the Paris attacks, some condemned Europe for being obsessed with boycotting Israel instead of fighting terror. In an op-ed on the Paris massacre, David Suissa, president of the Jewish Journal, wrote, “Europe will need a lesson in the priorities of labeling. Label the terrorists, yes. Label their ideology, yes. Label the allies who can help you fight them, yes. Just stop labeling Israeli tomatoes.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted the labels, saying the EU “should be ashamed.” He compared it to the Nazi-era practice of boycotting Jewish businesses and forcing Jews to wear yellow stars. The Jerusalem Post reported that in “outright defiance of European boycott threats,” one winery in the Golan Heights decided to print the Israeli flag on the caps of bottles headed to Europe. Pro-Israel advocates point out that the EU does not label products from disputed areas such as Tibet, Kashmir, Northern Cyprus, and Crimea. When Lars Faaborg-Andersen, the EU ambassador to Israel, was asked why the Jewish state was being subjected