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01/11/2009: "As Israel commits war crimes, the nation is welcomed as a "privileged" partner in the European Union."

As the country prepared for EU membership in 2004, Czech diplomats openly bragged of how they were continuing to arm Israel. In that year, the Czech Republic exported a Mi 24D helicopter to Israel. Fans of military porn, meanwhile, can marvel at videos on YouTube demonstrating the prowess of the Czech-designed Tatra trucks used by the Israeli army.

The Czechs' steadfast support for Israel sits uncomfortably with their apparently stout defence of human rights elsewhere. Invoking powerful historical memories from their own country, Czech ministers have demanded that the EU should support dissidents in Cuba. Yet they have failed to create a similar ruckus over how Israel detains school-leavers who resist military service or has denied journalists access to Gaza.

It would be wrong to chide the Czechs in isolation. All 27 EU governments agreed in December that their relations with Israel should be bolstered, ignoring a call from Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, to hold off on doing so until there was a freeze on settlements in the occupied territories. As a result of this decision, Israel could soon be offered the status of "privileged partner", allowing it take part in almost every EU programme open to countries that have not formally joined the union.

[ If Iran was to arm the Palestinians imagine the consequences - all out war. But western nations are arming Israel - at the taxpayers' expense. It is preposterous. This weaponry is used by the kind of people whose logic is that Hamas is more culpable than they are because Hamas can't afford smart bombs. Meanwhile the Israelis use weapons that are illegal under the Geneva Convention. We should all be aware that what the Palestinians suffer is similar to what Europeans have suffered in attacks like the Dresden bombing and the millions who were killed in the Soviet Union - and by the same kind of people. And we will have the same again some time if they are not stopped. Yet, as we see from the above article, their power and influence is only growing. Israelis should have NO say over what goes on in Europe, yet instead they are allowed to become a: "privileged partner", allowing it take part in almost every EU programme. ]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/10/czech-republic-israel-european-union-palestine