Racism in Israel: but what if it happened in Europe?

 http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseknutsen/2013/01/28/israel-foribly-injected-african-immigrant-women-with-birth-control/


While the World is shocked by Berlusconi's ridiculous claims recently, giving support to Mussolini and his fascist regime, somehow the same outrage does not focus for an incident happening in Israel! In the article posted with a link above, we read that Ethiopian immigrants were subjected to mandatory contraceptive injections, effectively amounting to forced (if temporary) sterilization according to news that broke out last weekend. 

Yet somehow, the state of Israel seems to escape once more the global community's condemnation or action against its immoral policies. Note that I mention Israel and not "the Jews", as my criticism goes directly to the Israeli state and government, not the Jewish ethnic group.

The article above uses the Nazi atrocities committed on the Jewish nation as a parallelism and an example. Such practices the article claims, echo the birth control practices of the European Eugenics and of course the Nazis. Many readers reacted badly.

But I believe that the best way to criticize them is to remind them what has been done to them. Why not? They bring the "race" card and the Holocaust each time someone speaks against them. If anything else they should be an example to all of us on human rights, not do similar things to others.

They should be in the front line on making sure such outrageous things do not happen again in our planet, but not only against them but on any ethnic group. They should never ever do to others what it was done to them. That is the best way to honor all those who died and set an example for the rest of us.

If what is said in the article is true, then it is simply shameful and it must be reported and criticized. Every other country is criticized for its mistakes: Greece for its economy, Turkey on its record on human rights, Britain in its stance in the EU, all former colonial European powers for the atrocities they committed during the colonization era.

No one should escape criticism when is in the wrong and it should not matter if the country that must face the music was once the victim. Each country can be the victim at one point in time and the aggressor at another. Each time it must be dealt accordingly.

So if this is true I think that the international community should intervene and make sure Israel complies. Imagine if such practices were happening in Europe? Imagine if Germany, Sweden or other European countries practiced what Israel is practicing on the Ethiopians?

The whole international community, the Africans and the Israelis themselves would be up in arms about it. And so now they should be for Israel. I do not hate Israel, I am once again terribly disappointed in them. If they break human rights then who should we use as an example to defend them?

Cameron's dangerous bluff!

In the aftermath of the long awaited British PM David Cameron's speech on the future of the British EU membership, one would think that another front has opened on the uncertain future of the EU. Or has it?


Reactions came fast from many of Europe's leaders but also from businessmen from Britain and elsewhere. They all criticized Mr Cameron and warned of the potential consequences that a "Brixit" would have on the country's economy.

"We need a UK as a fully fledged member, not harboring in the port of Dover," the European Parliament's President Mr Martin Schulz said. "Renegotiation is a two-way process where no artificial deadlines can be imposed by one side," he added. 

Many already commented that his speech is actually a bluff. A trick to make the British voters stay with him and his party, instead of joining the ranks of UKIP that for the past few years has been more vocal on Britain's EU membership.

And I have to agree. I personally found Mr. Cameron's speech very predictable. What else could he do? The voices demanding for reconsidering Britain's EU membership were becoming ever more vocal for the past few years. The country never had an easy or comfortable relationship with Europe, but since the financial crisis the British "euro-skeptics" found a lot of fertile ground to sow their seeds.

Not just Britain's but overall the European public opinion have started questioning their country's EU and euro-zone membership and that is not necessarily a bad thing; for too long the European population has been complacent and passive on European politics. 

The bad thing is that this crisis allowed the rise of many nationalist and far right groups and encouraged the rise of nationalism across Europe. And since Britain was always one of the least supportive nation for the European project, it is understandable that people that always advocated a withdrawal of Britain from the EU could now put pressure on the British government by gathering support from the public.    

Mr Cameron really had no choice, he had to listen to his people's calls and give them an option. But I strongly disagree with what he said, the way he said it. His speech was very carefully crafted to keep all sides happy, but it was not convincing. 

It was clearly populism to claim that he is not an "isolationist" and he wants the best for Europe. "The best for Europe" is what the collective decisions of all EU member states conclude to, not just what the interests of one of its members dictate. 

And if Britain continues its long tradition of bashing Europe and its involvement in it, it certainly will going to find itself isolated. Even the American President Mr Barack Obama called for caution on the UK's ever growing wish for a withdrawal. 

If Britain wanted the EU to be a success it should stop opting out of every policy they disagree with and be more engaged and proactive. Europe needs Britain but not only for the financial support as the Brits believe. If the three European powers (Germany, France and Britain) cooperated closely instead  of constantly bickering and be stuck in the post WW2 era, then the EU would be a success. 

Britain could be an invaluable asset for the union if it decided to play the role it should have and not always place itself miles apart from the rest of the Union. Yes there are numerous challenges to be faced and dealt within the EU and with every state joining they keep increasing. But the UK is not patient and it does not play its cards right. 

Instead of getting frustrated of not getting its way and for the slow developments in the new states, it could engage more in influencing and speeding those changes. And by doing that they could gain more allies and a sphere of influence in Europe. 

Perhaps they think that Europe is not interesting anymore or they have nothing to gain from it. But where will they turn when their old colonies seek to go their own way? 

By promising a referendum by 2017 Mr Cameron may have gained votes and the support of most British public, especially the ever increasingly euro-skeptic one. Instead of allowing it to slide into UKIP's circles, he gave them a promise that will make them looking forward to something. Perhaps securing their votes. 

"If I am Prime Minister, there will be a referendum,” he vowed; and that betrays his true intentions. A clever move? Perhaps yes for his and his party's future. But if the people vote to leave the EU, he will go down as the President who did the unthinkable. And history will judge him.

He will have to deliver, otherwise his and his party's reputation and future career are at risk. If nothing changes in Britain and in Europe by 2017, then the outcome will be most likely negative according to the current trends and the UK will have to leave the Union. 


The In/Out approach is very dangerous. The public can be so easily influenced by the wrong factors. My experiences in Ireland during the Lisbon Treaty referendum confirm that. The public when asked a "yes or no" question, usually the real answer that the public want to give is somewhere in between. But they are not given the "between" option. And when they lack all the facts they tend to vote negatively. 

With years of being brainwashed by the British media of all that is wrong with the EU and never with the rights, then I do not see how this referendum can be won. And it is a pity, because Britain's youth is far more "pro-European" that their parents and grant-parents and they are going to be the real "victims" of a British exit from the EU.

Cameron's criticism of the EU of having "too many institutions," is so lame. The EU has so many institutions exactly because all EU member states want to safeguard their national interests. And to try to balance all interests, the EU is having to have so many complicated laws that need the so many institutions to make sure they are kept.

If the EU member states passed on more powers to the EU and followed all EU legislation that they signed, there wouldn't be necessary to have so much bureaucracy in the EU. A "heretic who has point" like Copernicus he may wish to present himself, but in this case he hasn't.

Yes the EU has many problems and it is not perfect. But the problems come from the member states and their inability to agree or their reluctance to give more powers to the EU, something that Britain is most guilty of. Thus Mr. Cameron's "heresy" can not lead to anything constructive, thus there is no point to it. 

Mr Cameron was careful not to present himself as "anti-European."  A trend that grasps many British euro-skeptics lately. In order to gain support or avoid any criticism, they want to be seen a real "pro-Europeans" that are just trying to secure the best interests of the European nations. That translates of course to the best interests of Britain. 

The UK can not speak for all states. The interests of the majority of the smaller EU states is to belong to some kind of lose European federation. So if Britain wants out it is in its very right to think so, but they should not try to push their agenda on to others and present it as "common."

He also hinted that the EU should cooperate, or it will lose out of Britain's departure. Sure it will but threatening your "partners," does not win you their support. Europe needs Britain for sure, but also Britain needs Europe. The attitude of "give me what I need or else," is not a sign of "pro-European-ism" and a diplomatic approach to find a solution.

Britain is just playing its last card to avoid being "sucked in" a European federation and having to compromise the interests not of its people, rather the elites of the City of London. In all its history with Europe it was trying to do just that, so Cameron really does not have much choice than to try to satisfy his country's elites. Or at least try to avoid the criticism. 

A lot can happen until 2017 and until then I hope the British and the European elites will come with a plan B to deal with any outcome. If Britain goes ahead with the referendum that will most likely be lost, judging from the current public opinion trends, Europe will be in an uncharted territory. Never before such an important European state decided to leave the Union, but it will definitely not  spell the end of the EU. 

It will just open a new chapter.

Reforming the education systems across the EU.

Recently in most debates on how best to deal with the current economic crisis in Europe, the issue of youth unemployment dominates the discussions. And no wonder. One of the worse consequences of the economic crisis is the high youth unemployment rates across Europe. The young generation is the worse hit with up to 50% unemployment rates in countries like Spain and Greece. 

Many ideas of creating new jobs and tackling youth unemployment are being put on the table by politicians, thinkers, businessmen and workers' unions representatives. New working contracts, social security plans, new jobs and industries to be introduced, are some of the suggestions or solutions proposed.


The problem is, that if we want these solutions to be long lasting, we need to start investing in different educational system too. If we invest in new industries, innovation and a new European economy, we will have to train and prepare our youth to be equipped and qualified for those changes. 

In the future, if Europe becomes more "green" and innovative, there will be many new kind of jobs in offer. How many European youths have degrees for them? We need to reform first the European education system, before we reform the European economy. Otherwise we will have people with too many degrees, but no jobs on what they studied to find work as their countries' economies will change dramatically. 

We need to rethink what kind of professionals we want for the future and instead of importing them from other countries, perhaps try to create them in Europe first. A multilingual, young and highly skilled workforce is needed if we want to kick start Europe's economy and make the recovery last, if not prevent future crisis. 

We have the grounds for multilingualism and we do have some of the best universities on the planet. All we have to do is reform the third education level across Europe and perhaps harmonize them. In some countries they still teach modules that have little use in our modern society, or with outdated methods. 

Hopefully all EU states will agree to introduce a new way of teaching old modules, or new modules altogether that will help students accumulate the right knowledge that will help them pursue a career path with prospects. This of course combined with new policies introduced that will help young people find work and make themselves attractive for employment.

Tackling European youth unemployment requires many reforms in the European economy and its workforce. But should we leave out our youths' education, then any victory will be short lived. And when the next crisis arrives we will once again wonder what we must do to tackle the same problem. We will once again fail Europe's young generation.

The Brits may ponder on leaving, but the Irish are staying firmly inside!

Dublin, 18 January 2013: With British Prime Minister, David Cameron, due to deliver a highly-anticipated speech regarding the UK’s future in the EU, a European Movement Ireland/Red C poll suggests that a majority of the Irish population believe that Ireland should remain as part of the EU, regardless of the UK’s position.

According to the Red C poll commissioned by independent, not-for profit organization, European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland), 85 per cent of respondents believe Ireland should remain part of the EU, with 83 per cent of Irish adults believing that Ireland has, on balance, benefited from membership of the EU.

Two-thirds (66 per cent) of those polled held the view that Ireland should remain in the EU even if the UK leaves the Union.

Furthermore, despite on-going economic hardship in Ireland, only 1 in 4 Irish adults believe Ireland should leave the Euro currency.

EM Ireland/Red C Poll Results

Results from the poll carried out between the 7^th and 9^th January 2013 show that:

• 85% of Irish people want Ireland to remain in the EU

• 83% of people believe Ireland has, on balance, benefitted from membership of the EU

• 73% want Ireland to remain within the Euro currency

• 66% want Ireland to remain in the EU, even if the UK leaves the Union

• 82% of men and 71% of women are aware that Ireland is holding the Presidency of the EU

• Almost half (45%) of all adults in Ireland claim that they think of themselves as both Irish and European while 47 % see themselves as Irish only

• 38% of 35-44 year olds think Ireland should leave the EU if the UK does – a higher average than the general result of 29%

• Awareness of Ireland's current role as President of the Council of the EU was highest in the Connacht/Ulster region at 79%

European Movement Ireland commissioned Red C to carry out this poll at the start of the Irish Presidency in order to ascertain Irish people’s views on a variety of different topics related to Irish-EU relations.  The poll was conducted among a representative sample of over 1,000 people aged 18 and over from across the country.

The poll held good news for the Irish Presidency, with a high level of awareness among respondents that Ireland currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU – with 76 per cent of those polled aware of Ireland’s current role.  Interestingly, awareness is strongest amongst men and those in older age groups, with the Connacht/Ulster region ranking highest.

However, within this statistic; a contrasting indicator showed that just over half (52 per cent) of the 18-24 year old demographic were aware that Ireland currently holds the Presidency.




Source: The European Movement of Ireland. ( http://www.europeanmovement.ie/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/EM-Ireland-Red-C-Presidency-Poll-Report.pdf )