The EU, with everything on its plate, finds time to focus on portraying Israel as a villain state

The European Union is a relatively recent phenomenon, having been established in 1993, and its efficacy is not what the pointy-heads in Brussels would have us believe. Its real nature is rather as Victor Davis Hanson describes it today at Townhall.com:

In truth, the EU exists in name only. In reality, it is largely run by the German government and its bankers, who decide how a debtor like Greece will or will not stay in the EU, or how many migrants Europe collectively should let in.

Because of Germany's unique 144-year history -- having been at the heart of three wars in Europe -- its neighbors have been happy to prosper in its reflected glory of pacifism and prosperity. Germany's population and economy remain by far the largest in Europe.

It is not the bureaucracy of the European Union that has kept the peace since World War II -- the longest war-free period in Europe since the fall of Napoleon. The EU did not exist until 1993, nearly a half-century after the end of World War II. The euro monetary union is not even two decades old.

What, then, has kept Europe quiet?

The answers are three artifacts of World War II that are rarely mentioned, but should be. None have anything to do with the EU.

One reason is American-led NATO. The treaty organization channeled national militaries into a central armed force led by an American policeman that never quite left its beat after the end of World War II.

As originally envisioned, the alliance really did keep the Soviet Union out of Europe, America in it -- and the Germans down. Should NATO disband, European nations will be free to arm and sign treaties with any power they choose. We know how that worked out between 1870 and 1945.

The second keeper of peace is the peculiar role of nuclear weapons on the European continent. Only the United Kingdom and France have nuclear missiles. But the strongest and largest nation, Germany, does not -- for a variety of reasons dealing with the postwar rehabilitation of the defeated and discredited Nazi state.
Should Britain and France ever give up their nuclear weapons, as the new head of British Labor Party has advocated, or should Germany (or others) go nuclear, then watch tensions and conflicts rise in a manner unseen since the end of World War II.

Third is the war guilt of Germany, a still-powerful force 70 years after the defeat of Hitler. 

So it's not in the best of shape for dealing with pressing issues such as the influx of immigrants from the middle east and south Asia, the conflicting policies among EU members for how to deal with said immigrants, the possibility of jihadists among said immigrants, and the economic problem children on the Mediterranean rim - principally Greece, but also Portugal, Spain and Italy.

With all that on their plate, the pointy-heads in Brussels have decided that this is the time to focus on putting economic pressure on Israel for expanding residential and industrial activity into Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights. Also, no one seems to have given much thought to how such pressure is going to affect the ordinary Palestinian trying to earn a living:

The European Union will start labeling Israeli products that are manufactured in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights next month, reports United with Israel, singling them out for boycotts.

An unnamed EU official said that the program has been under deliberation for two and a half years and will finally take effect in October after some technical and legal details are ironed out.

He also threatened that if the Israeli government boosts construction in Judea and Samaria in response to a boycott, that “We will continue with our moves against the settlements, and the labeling of products will only be the beginning.”

The official seemed unconcerned that Palestinians would lose their jobs as a result of the boycott, since Israelis would lose their jobs as well, and the incentive to live in Judea and Samaria would diminish. But in fact, Palestinians will be hurt the most. Israelis will be able to find jobs elsewhere, while Palestinians will have to find work in the failing Palestinian economy, joining a high percentage of the Palestinian population that is unemployed, as United with Israel notes.

 

“We are just trying to correct what the Israeli government is doing,” the official claimed. “It is giving financial incentives to living [in Judea and Samaria], and we are trying to balance that.”

SodaStream, which produces machines for making carbonated drinks, announced it was closing its factory in Judea and Samaria last year and moving to the Negev. “It’s propaganda. It’s politics. It’s hate. It’s anti-Semitism. It’s all the bad stuff we don’t want to be part of,” said CEO Daniel Birnbaum.

So amidst the utter lack of clarity that characterizes the EU and that has led to economic and immigration chaos, there arises one fairly clear sentiment that has always, sadly, had a looming presence on that continent: animosity toward Jews.