Showing posts with label European Union. Show all posts
Showing posts with label European Union. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Next Financial Crisis Has Already Arrived In Europe, And People Are Starting To Freak Out - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG


Posted: 12 Jun 2017  Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Did you know that the sixth largest bank in Spain failed in spectacular fashion just a few days ago?  Many are comparing the sudden implosion of Banco Popular to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, and EU regulators hastily arranged a sale of the failed bank to Santander in order to avoid a full scale financial panic. 

Sadly, most Americans have no idea that a new financial crisis is starting to play out over in Europe, because most Americans only care about what is going on in America.  But we should be paying attention, because the EU is the second largest economy on the entire planet, and the euro is the second most used currency on the entire planet.  The U.S. financial system is already teetering on the brink of disaster, and this new financial crisis in Europe could turn out to be enough to push us over the edge.

If EU regulators had not arranged a “forced sale” of Banco Popular to Santander, we would probably be witnessing panic on a scale that we haven’t seen since 2008 in Europe right about now.  The following comes from the Telegraph
Spanish banking giant Santander has stepped in to the rescue ailing rival Banco Popular by taking over the failing lender for €1 in a watershed deal masterminded by EU regulators to avoid a damaging collapse.
Santander will tap its shareholders for €7bn in a rights issue to raise the capital needed to shore-up Popular’s finances in a dramatic private sector rescue of Spain’s sixth-largest lender.
It will inflict losses of approximately €3.3bn on bond investors and shareholders but crucially will avoid a taxpayer bailout.
But now that a “too big to fail” bank like Banco Popular has failed, investors are immediately trying to figure out which major Spanish banks may be the next to collapse.  According to Wolf Richter, many have identified Liberbank as an institution that is highly vulnerable…
After its most tumultuous week since the bailout days of 2012, Spain’s banking system is gripped by a climate of fear, uncertainty and distrust. Rather than allaying investor nerves, the shotgun bail-in and sale of Banco Popular to Santander on Tuesday has merely intensified them. For the first time since the Global Financial Crisis, shareholders and subordinate bondholders of a failing Spanish bank were not bailed out by taxpayers; they took risks in order to make a buck, and they bore the consequences. That’s how it should be. But bank investors don’t like not getting bailed out.
Now they’re worrying it could happen again. As Popular’s final days showed, once confidence and trust in a bank vanishes, it’s almost impossible to restore them. The fear has now spread to Spain’s eighth largest lender, Liberbank, a mini-Bankia that was spawned in 2011 from the forced marriage of three failed cajas (savings banks), Cajastur, Caja de Extremadura and Caja Cantabria.
On Thursday, shares of Liberbank dropped by an astounding 20 percent, and that was followed up by another 19 percent decline on Friday.

Spanish authorities responded by banning short sales of Liberbank shares, and that caused a short-term rebound in the stock price.

But we haven’t seen this kind of chaos in European financial markets in a very long time.
Meanwhile, Nick Giambruno is sounding the alarm about a much bigger bubble.  At this moment, more than a trillion dollars worth of Italian government bonds have negative yields…
Over $1 trillion worth of Italian bonds actually have negative yields.
It’s a bizarre and perverse situation.
Lending money to the bankrupt Italian government carries huge risks. So the yields on Italian government bonds should be near record highs, not record lows.
Negative yields could not exist in a free market. They’re only possible in the current “Alice in Wonderland” economy created by central bankers.
You see, the European Central Bank (ECB) has been printing money to buy Italian government bonds hand over fist. Since 2008, the ECB and Italian banks have bought over 88% of Italian government debt, according to a recent study.
The moment that the ECB stops wildly buying Italian bonds, the party will be over and the Italian financial system will crash.  Unfortunately for Italy, the Germans are pressuring the ECB to quit printing so much money, and the Germans usually get their way in these things.
But if the Germans get their way this time, we could be facing a complete and utter nightmare very quickly.  Here is more from Nick Giambruno
Once the ECB—the only large buyer—steps away, Italian government bonds will crash and rates will soar.
Soon it will be impossible for the Italian government to finance itself.
Italian banks—which are already insolvent—will be decimated. They hold an estimated €235 billion worth of Italian government bonds. So the coming bond crash will pummel their balance sheets.
It’s shaping up to be a lovely train wreck.
And all of this is happening in the context of a global economy that appears to be headed for a major downturn.

For example, the last time that global credit growth showed down this rapidly was during the last financial crisis
From peak to trough the deceleration in global credit growth is now approaching that during the global financial crisis (-6% of global GDP), even if the dispersion of the decline is much narrower. Currently 55% of the countries in our sample have experienced a -0.3 standard deviation deterioration in their credit impulse (median over 12 months) compared to 77% of countries in Dec ’09 when the median decline was -1.4 stdev.”
Of course the last time global credit growth decelerated this dramatically, global central banks intervened on a scale that was unlike anything that we had ever seen before.
But this time around it is happening at a time when global central banks are very low on ammo
More importantly, back in 2009, not only China, but the Fed and other central banks unleashed the biggest injection of credit, i.e. liquidity, the world has ever seen resulting in the biggest asset bubble the world has ever seen. And, this time around, the Fed is set to hike for the third time in the past year, even as the ECB and BOJ are forced to soon taper as they run out of eligible bonds to monetize. All this comes at a time when US loan growth is weeks away from turning negative.
As such, what “kickstarts” the next spike in the credit impulse is unclear. What is clear is that if the traditional 3-6 month lag between credit inflection points, i.e. impulse, and economic growth is maintained, the global economy is set for a dramatic collapse some time in the second half.
There are so many experts that are warning about big economic trouble in our immediate future.  I would like to say that all of the experts that are freaking out are wrong, but I can’t do that.

I have not seen an atmosphere like this since 2008 and 2009, and everything points to an acceleration of the crisis as we enter the second half of this year.

    

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Hank Kunneman: "Movement and Great Change! Prophecy Over America, Israel, the Youth, European Union and More!" - The Elijah List

Hank Kunneman: "Movement and Great Change! Prophecy Over America, Israel, the Youth, European Union and More!"


The Elijah List  Mar 22, 2017
Steve ShultzFrom the desk of Steve Shultz:
This word by Hank Kunneman is full...and I mean full of prophetic exhortation across the nations of the earth. This is one such word where you will need to read and then reread some more to absorb it all in.
I think we will all be able to grab a hold of this:
Do you hear the sound of the movement of the hosts? For God says, "I open your ears, for there is movement and it is the sound of My angels who move swiftly here and there. Why are they moving? Because they are bringing you into a new season where you will have hope restored and you will see that great victories will be your testimony. And you will suddenly see that the things which have been "held back" shall come quickly because I'm accelerating My purposes and My plans for you."
Now do me a favor...make sure and forward this to all of your friends and family across the nations...so they can read this most encouraging word. AND please tell them to SUBSCRIBE to the Elijah List and we will send them daily the most updated prophetic words straight to their inbox! (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)
Enjoy! And thanks for forwarding this to your friends! They can subscribe here.
Order the Download
Steve Shultz, Founder and Publisher
The Elijah List & Breaking Christian News 
http://www.elijahlist.com
P.S. – Oh, and a Quick Note to our readers: To EXPLORE our more than 4,000 Christian Prophetic books, CDs, and gifts go to: elijahshopper.com.

HR


A Refreshing of Hope! You Will Celebrate!
"There is a sound going forth right now," the Spirit of God says, "listen to the sound that is going forth from the instruments, for this sound is restoring hope to a people that have been hopeless. The sound of the instruments is breaking satanic bondages; mindsets that have been upon the people of the earth, and there is a refreshing that is coming, a refreshing of hope,says the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God says, "You who have been heavy burdened, afraid, depressed, your head has hung down. The Spirit of God says to you: you are entering into a season of change and this is My promise for you this day. And this is not just a promise that you will only hold for but a moment, but this is the sound, this is the anointing, this is My decree that shall carry you and you will see great change."
God says, "As the Ark of Noah was lifted up high above the waters, high above the mountains of the earth, so I will lift you, My people, this year; and I will lift My Church and I will restore hope to those who have felt as though they were to give up." God says, "Watch, when you suddenly understand that all of the warfare of this last season, this last year, was to bring you to this time now where you will celebrate."
My Angels Are Stirring Things for a New Season
I Am not just shifting things for you America, but I'm shifting the hemisphere!
Do you hear the sound of the movement of the hosts? For God says, "I open your ears, for there is movement and it is the sound of My angels who move swiftly here and there. Why are they moving? Because they are bringing you into a new season where you will have hope restored and you will see that great victories will be your testimony. And you will suddenly see that the things which have been "held back" shall come quickly because I'm accelerating My purposes and My plans for you."
God says, "Let this be your hope! Was there not a man at the pool of Bethesda who had been in that condition and I saw him in that condition for a long time?Some of you have been in this condition where you have felt like you couldn't take it anymore, and you've said, 'When should those prayers be answered?'"
God says, "I visited that man, I stirred the waters, and so there is a stirring that is taking place over your home, over your family, over your life; it is My stirring, it is My doing, it is My movement. Why? To raise you up! To restore hope, to give back your life to you, the life that I promised that I would give you abundantly, this shall be your promise!"
I Am the Guardian to This Nation and to Israel
"I have walked," says the Spirit of God, "across the earth and I have visited every nation, and I have looked and I have measured the hunger of those who thirst for the living God. And as I have walked to and fro throughout this earth, I have walked throughout you, America, and through your states, and I have walked through Israel, for I am the Guardian to this nation, America, and I am the Guardian to Israel.
"And now I have come as I have walked among the earth and walked among America and Israel, and I now come to deal and to judge, yes I said to judgeI'm coming to judge those which oppose Me; which oppose My plan, which oppose My Church and which oppose My people. As I walk among the earth to judge those who have set themselves to be enemies against the things I have spoken to you, they shall surely reap it. I have said to you, I will make America great again. This has been My saying and this now is My doing." (Photo via Pixabay)
"I will deal with those who stand to oppose and they will understand as the Scripture declares, 'shatter the teeth of the wicked,' and so they will lose their voice, they will lose their influence, for this that I bring is not just a 4-year plan, but there is a 12-year plan to restore hope to this nation, to restore honor to this nation, and to bring you, America, into the greatest season.
"For you remember the days of an Industrial Revolution? It shall be said throughout your history books that this season, this time, shall be known as the Great Revolution, and a new energy source is coming."
ElijahList Prophetic Resources
The Energy of the Youth Shall Fuel this Next Move of My Spirit
"Oh yes, it is coming by technology, but let Me speak to you of a new energy source – it's the energy of the young, and they shall be what powers this Great Revolution."
God says, "I want you to understand now, there are two specific moments that I have chosen. It's My choosing, for who is man that they would say, 'What are you doing, God?' For I have chosen across the earth to bring a line of demarcation, a line that I'm establishing, an uplifting of My Church and a breaking of the strongholds that have afflicted My people long enough." And God says, "There shall be a divine transfer of grace, of hope, and of blessing—even now."
Israel's Enemies Restrained! Healing Balm!
Listen, God said for me to stand over in the place to speak to Israel for just a moment..."Israel, I have given unto you a friend, and yet Hell fears what I have given to you by the way of the ones who are seated in the House called White, and Hell is afraid! Why? Because of the deal, the handshaking with Iran, the deal – it shall be broken!
"I Am going to restore hope, to give back your life to you!"
"There is coming a restrain of the enemies of Israel," and God says, "When the hand of the Eagle joins the hand of the one in Israel, a great restraint shall come to Israel against the enemies that would raise their heads." God says, "Not so! Their land shall not be divided, for I shall withhold the plans of the enemy, for it shall suddenly shift and change!"
"And it was from Israel that the Savior came and the Savior was given, and now it shall be as they have despised you, Israel, that you shall bring that which shall save mankind from disease as there is coming an announcement of a breakthrough in medical science regarding diseases of this day; and it shall come out of you, Israel, a healing balm."
"I Have Shifted the Northern Hemisphere, and Shaking the European Union!"
"Do you hear the sound? Do you hear the sound of My chariot moving across the earth? Do you hear the sound of My hosts bringing you into a transfer from the Lord, your God? Do you hear the sound of the north wind blowing across the northern hemisphere of this earth?"
The Spirit of God says, "Do you remember when men looked to the earth and they said, 'Oh, the revivals, the moves of God! The Bible Belt, the South.' When they look at the hemisphere of the earth they say, 'Oh, that's where the supernatural move of God has taken place.' Then they say, 'But the north is filled with liberalism, secular humanism, religious spirits! Where is the move of God in the Northern Hemisphere?'"
"I am not just shifting things for you, America, but I'm shifting the hemisphere.God says, "I gave you a sign, for remember in the days when Israel was divided? Ten to the north ruled by Ahab and Jezebel, and two to the south, Judah?"
God says, "Was it not in the time that Jezebel who ruled the north fell, and Ahab and his kingdom fire fell? The kingdom was then united and there was a sound of the abundance of rain, and there was a hand that appeared, the cloud the size of a man's hand. Why? Something was shifting from the south to the north to make it one.
"This I speak, watch Europe. Watch Europe, watch the United Kingdom, for more will be cut off from the union and a shaking shall take place, and men shall seek to pull out their Scriptures and their theology and say, 'We do not understand; this does not meet end-time theology.'" (Photo via Flickr)
God says, "It's My theology, I'm messing with the nations, and so I'll mess again with the union of Europe, and I will raise up the United Kingdom, and watch what I'm about to do through this president in America. I will bring the land of the Eagle to a table of diplomacy with the Bear, Russia, and with China the Dragon."
God says, "I will break the cold war that has been over the last few years and I will bring a spirit of diplomacy, and I will do this for My harvest because the earth is being shaken and the Northern Hemisphere is about to receive a great awakening. Let the north wind blow and bring a habitation of God." (To Subscribe to the Elijah List go here.)
Hank Kunneman
One Voice Ministries

Email: hankandbrenda@ovm.org
Website: www.hankandbrenda.org
Hank Kunneman is senior pastor of Lord of Hosts Church, a thriving church in Omaha, Nebraska, and founder of One Voice Ministries. As an uncompromising voice that God is using to stir up the Body of Christ, he is known for a strong prophetic anointing as he preaches. He travels and ministers extensively as he and his wife, Brenda, preach together at conferences, churches, and national television programs throughout the United States and overseas. Together, the Kunneman's also host their own nationally and internationally televised weekly program, New Level with Hank and Brenda, airing on Daystar Television Network, Victory Television Network, and Faith Broadcasting Network. Their church services are also watched world-wide via live stream at hankandbrenda.org. Pastor Hank has also authored several books including Prophesy with the Wind of God in Your MouthMy Heart Cries Abba FatherThe Revealer of SecretsDon't Leave God Alone, and Barrier Breakers.
To receive more words like this in YOUR inbox, subscribe FREE to the Elijah List at this link http://elijahlist.com/subscribe.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

EU Attempts to Heal Schism With Israel Over Product Labeling By JNS - BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS


European Union flags. (Wikimedia Commons)

European Union flags. (Wikimedia Commons)

EU Attempts to Heal Schism With Israel Over Product Labeling


“When a man’s ways please the LORD, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7)
Israel is discreetly holding talks with the European Union (EU) in an effort to resolve a diplomatic crisis following the EU’s recent decision to remove “Made in Israel” labels from products originating beyond Israel’s 1967 lines.
The EU and Israel are jointly working on ways to restore relations so that negotiations can resume in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing Israel Radio.
NO to BDS and YES to Israel!
A delegation led by Helga Schmid—the EU’s deputy secretary general for the External Action Service and a senior adviser to EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini—last week secretly met with Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold, representatives of the Israeli National Security Council, and other officials in Israel, according to Haaretz.
“We told them that the decisions of the EU’s council of foreign ministers and the decision on the labeling of products [beyond the 1967 lines] were unilateral and in fact adopted the Palestinian narrative. That’s no way to conduct a respectful dialogue,” an unnamed Jerusalem official was quoted as saying.

Monday, February 1, 2016

Netanyahu rejects French ultimatum on Palestinian statehood - TRUNEWS

Israel


Netanyahu rejects French ultimatum on Palestinian statehood

Jan. 31, 2016  Reuters


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Sunday for a more “sober” approach towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in dismissing a French peace initiative as only encouraging Palestinians to shun compromise.

The proposal on Friday by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius for an international peace conference was the latest sign of Western frustration over the absence of movement toward a two-state solution since the collapse of U.S.-brokered negotiations in 2014.

Fabius said that if the French plan did not break the deadlock, Paris would recognize a Palestinian state.

Such a step would raise concern in Israel that other European countries, also long opposed to its settlement-building in occupied territory, would follow suit.

In public remarks to his cabinet, Netanyahu did not explicitly reject the notion of an international conference – an aide said Israel would examine such a request once it was received – but he made clear that reported details of the plan made it a non-starter.

Netanyahu said a “threat” to recognize a Palestinian state if France’s peace efforts did not succeed, constituted “an incentive to the Palestinians to come along and not compromise”.


Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem   May 10, 2015. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner


“I assess that there will be a sobering up regarding this matter,” Netanyahu added. “In any event, we will make effort so that there is a sobering up here, and our position is very clear: We are prepared to enter direct negotiation without preconditions and without dictated terms.”

On Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the French proposal, telling an African summit in Ethiopia that “the status quo cannot continue”.

But Washington responded with caution to the French move, saying it continued to prefer that Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement on final-status issues through direct talks.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Abbas and the two discussed the French initiative and “the tense political situation in the region,” WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency reported on Sunday.

While aware the initiative may struggle to get off the ground, French officials said Paris had a responsibility to act now in the face of Israeli settlement activity and the prospect of continued diplomatic inaction as the United States focuses on a presidential election in November.

And, the officials said, Netanyahu had gone a step too far in accusing U.N. Secretary of State Ban Ki-moon of giving a “tailwind to terrorism” by laying some of the blame for four months of stabbings and car rammings by Palestinians at Israel’s door. Ban angered Israel by saying last week that it is “human nature to react to occupation”.

The United States, European Union – Israel’s closest allies – have also issued unusually stern criticism of Israel in recent weeks, reflecting their own frustration with the policies of Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

The criticism, particularly about the settlements, where some 550,000 Jews live in around 250 communities scattered across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has raised Palestinian hopes that world powers might finally be minded to support a U.N. resolution condemning Israel’s policy outright.

WEST BANK ATTACK

Since October, Palestinian attacks, partly fueled by tensions over the freeze in peace talks, have killed 26 Israelis and a U.S. citizen.

In an incident on Sunday, a Palestinian gunman wounded three Israelis near the West Bank settlement of Beit El and was then shot dead by soldiers, the Israeli army said. Palestinian officials said he worked as a bodyguard for a Palestinian prosecutor in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Shortly after that attack, a Palestinian motorist was shot and wounded when he tried to run down soldiers at a military checkpoint in the West Bank, the army said.

Over the past four months, Israeli forces have killed at least 152 Palestinians, 98 of them assailants according to authorities. Most the others have died in violent protests.

“I don’t see anything that warrants living as long as the occupation smothers us and kills our brothers and sisters … You were first and I am following you,” the Beit El assailant, Amjad Abu Omar, wrote on Facebook.

Palestinians seek a state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, parts of which have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war. Palestine has non-member observer status at the United Nations and its flag flies with those of member states at UN headquarters in New York.

Sweden became the first EU member nation to recognize the Palestinian state in 2014. A total of 136 U.N.-member countries, mostly in Africa, Latin America and Asia, now do so.

About ReutersThomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals and is affiliated with TruNews. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges (symbol: TRI).

Monday, January 25, 2016

Europe's 'Non-Violent' Campaign Against Israel | Tsvi Sadan ISRAEL TODAY

Europe's 'Non-Violent' Campaign Against Israel

Monday, January 25, 2016 |  Tsvi Sadan  ISRAEL TODAY
The European Union's relentless pressure on Israel to comply with conditions it believes would bring peace amounts to a "non-violent" campaign against the Jewish state. If in the end Israel capitulates to the EU's terms, the peace enforced upon her would be of the kind Field Marshal Archibald Wavell predicted for post-WWI Europe. Forcing Germany to sign the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, Wavell famously stated, would be a "peace to end peace."
The latest attempt to corral Israel was the EU's statement from January 18 reiterating that it will maintain a "full and effective implementation of existing EU legislation and bilateral arrangements applicable to settlements products. The EU expresses its commitment to ensure that … all agreements between the State of Israel and the EU must unequivocally and explicitly indicate their inapplicability to the territories occupied by Israel in 1967." 
The statement then goes on to insist that the above "does not constitute a boycott of Israel, which the EU strongly opposes."
In other words, though it strongly opposes efforts to boycott Israel, the EU nevertheless continues its policy of boycotting Israeli goods coming from places like the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo and Barkan Industrial Park east of Petah Tikvah. This statement follows the November 2015 EU decision to brand Israeli products made in East Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights, which was brushed aside as "technical" by EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen.
Equally alarming is the American change in policy toward Israel that appears to be a closing of ranks with the EU. It was no accident that US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro delivered what one described as an "egregiously anti-Israel speech" on the very same day the EU issued its statement. 
In words that could have been said by the Swedish Foreign Minister, Shapiro launched his version of this same kind of vitriolic rhetoric. "Too many attacks on Palestinians lack a vigorous investigation or response by Israeli authorities, too much vigilantism goes unchecked," he said, even as Palestinian kids are killing and wounding Israelis on a daily basis. 
Shapiro appears to be joining the ever-growing crowd that blames Israel for Palestinian terror. If Israel would withdraw to its 1967 borders, these people believe, peace and tranquility would descend upon this troubled region.
Yet, if Israel's withdrawal to its 1967 Gaza borders is to teach us anything, it would tell us quite clearly that these borders have no magic in them, that there is no magic wand that can be waved to erase the Palestinians' stated purpose of conquering Israel. 
Under present conditions, pressuring Israel to accept a two-state solution is a recipe for peace that will end all peace, one that a responsible Israeli government must reject.
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates from ISRAEL TODAY.


Friday, January 22, 2016

EU to Give Palestinians 9.5 Billion Euros to Build Arab Settlements in Judea and Samaria - BIN

(Photo: Milad Mosapoor/ Wiki Commons)

(Photo: Milad Mosapoor/ Wiki Commons)

EU to Give Palestinians 9.5 Billion Euros to Build Arab Settlements in Judea and Samaria

“And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them: ‘If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, my heart shall be knit unto you; but if ye be come to betray me to mine adversaries, seeing there is no wrong in my hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and give judgment.'” (1 Chronicles 12:18)
In an agreement reached yesterday between the European Union (EU) and the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government, the EU agreed to provide approximately two million euros in grants towards social infrastructure projects in Area C. The region referred to as Area C is comprised of sections of Judea and Samaria that are still under full Israeli control.
“The European Union is committed to continuing its work in Area C on two fronts—humanitarian assistance and development,” explained EU Representative Ralph Tarraf.
“The EU provides humanitarian assistance to Area C communities in need in accordance with the humanitarian imperative,” continued Tarraf. “The EU is also working with the Palestinian Authority to develop Area C and to support Palestinians living there.”
Although Tarraf stressed the EU’s commitment towards providing both humanitarian and developmental assistance to Palestinians, the EU assistance package totaling 9.5 million euros is primarily geared towards “master plans” of developmental assistance rather than humanitarian assistance to Palestinian communities in Area C.
“The ‘master plans’ are more of a developmental approach on how to develop the communities, such as providing water networks to the people living there,” EU Palestinian Delegation’s Communication Officer, Shadi Othman told Tazpit Press Service (TPS).
The “master plans” have been developed in coordination with the EU and with Palestinian localities.
“They don’t have a zoning plan for the community so the EU works with the communities and with other donors and organizations to develop these ‘master plans’ in the first phase and to be sure that they are in line with all the requirements. It then submits them to the Israelis,” elaborated Othman to TPS.
The first package of EU assistance will provide funding for 15 social infrastructure projects in nine Palestinian communities thus supporting approximately 3,000 Palestinians. The social infrastructure projects include financial assistance for kindergartens, water networks, roads, playgrounds, and additional classrooms.
Othman told TPS that despite the absence of Israeli opposition to the development of “master plans,” Israel still requires that such plans be submitted for approval.
NO to BDS and YES to Israel!
“The Israeli government has said that it does not oppose Palestinian development in Area C in principle, but it still asked for ‘master plans’ to be submitted,” he said.
Othman also explained to TPS that the the structures that have been built from such plans have not been targeted by recent demolitions of illegal Palestinian buildings in Area C.
“So far, the projects that were demolished have to do with humanitarian assistance packages provided by the EU,” Othman noted to TPS. “We’re talking about ten shelters or caravans in some cases that were confiscated. We are in touch with the Israeli government about that and we have an open dialogue about these issues.”
Othman said that these developmental projects in Area C fall in line with the EU’s statement of expectations for both Israel and the Palestinians that was released earlier this week.
“There was a clear call by the EU Council and the 28 EU foreign ministers in their conclusions this past Monday to allow for social and economic development in Area C,” Othman explained to TPS.
This was also expressed by EU Representative Tarraf earlier yesterday.  “I would like to reiterate Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council conclusions. EU foreign ministers emphasized that a fundamental change of policy by Israel with regard to the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in Area C, would significantly increase economic opportunities, empower Palestinian institutions, and enhance stability and security for both Israelis and Palestinians,” Othman said.
Othman told TPS that the request for a “fundamental change of policy” calls upon Israel to allow for many more social infrastructure projects to be developed.
“The EU believes that Israel has the responsibility to facilitate, accelerate, and allow for all forms of development in Area C, whether social or economic,” Othman told TPS. “For the EU, Area C remains part of occupied territory of the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] and without it, there will be no Palestinian state.”

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

ISRAEL TODAY - Head of EU Parliament Opposes Labeling Israeli Products | Yossi Aloni

Head of EU Parliament Opposes Labeling Israeli Products

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 |  Yossi Aloni  
 ISRAEL TODAY
The European Union’s publishing of official guidelines on the labeling of Israeli “settler” products was met with praise and approval by the Palestinian Authority, America and most European governments.
But it was categorically rejected by the president of the EU Parliament, Martin Schulz.
The labeling fiasco is aimed at harming Israeli businesses situated in the so-called “West Bank” and the Golan Heights in order to drive the Jews out of those territories claimed by the Palestinians and Syrians, respectively.
Schulz, however, recognized who the true victims of the policy would be.
“I oppose labeling products from the territories. It will mainly hurt the Palestinians, who make an honest living there,” noted the German politician, referencing the fact that the Israeli businesses in question employ thousands of Palestinian Arabs.
Schulz’s remarks were made during a meeting in Berlin with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, who added, “Israel will survive the labeling of products. Those who will not survive are the thousands of Palestinian families who work shoulder to shoulder with their Jewish friends and have a shared life there. It will hurt their economy, their lives and their families, and it will destroy the seeds of peace that exist in those employment zones.”
Edelstein cynically wondered to whom Europe would have him surrender the Golan, assuming he was willing to do so. “Just tell me, to whom? To Syria? To ISIS?”
Nor was Schulz alone among Europe’s elite in opposing the labeling of Israeli products.
Earlier this month, some 200 EU officials, diplomats, parliamentarians and NATO representatives welcomed in the New Year at a party featuring Israeli “settler” products.
In toasting the New Year, Israeli Ambassador to the EU David Walzer and his guests raised glasses filled with wine from the Golan Heights, before digging in to Israeli foods like falafel and being entertained by an Israeli DJ.
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates from ISRAEL TODAY.