War of Words: EU Blasts “Israeli” Minister who Feeds Disinformation

Local Editor

In a sharply worded letter, European Union’s foreign minister, Federica Mogherini, slammed the apartheid “Israeli” entity’s Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, asking him to provide proof of his ministry’s “vague and unsubstantiated” allegations that the EU is financing “terror”.

In her letter, Mogherini responds to a report issued in May by Erdan titled “The millions given by EU institutions to NGOs with ties to terror and boycotts against “Israel”.”

In the letter Erdan sent to Mogherini along with the report, he wrote, “An in-depth research study conducted by my ministry has revealed that in 2016 the EU funded fourteen European and Palestinian NGOs which openly and clearly promote BDS.” He also charged that, “Several of the BDS-promoting NGOs that receive direct and indirect EU funding are linked to EU-designated “terrorist” organizations.” Erdan added that such funding undermines the EU-Israel relationship and “also undermines the chances for peace.”

Subsequently the report was leaked to the “Israel Hayom” newspaper, which reported it under the headline, “Millions of euros of hate.” On the day the report came out, Erdan tweeted, “The EU continues to finance BDS organizations, some of which are linked to “terror” organizations, with tens of millions of shekels a year.”

In her letter, which was sent to Erdan on July 5, Mogherini writes, “Allegations of the EU supporting incitement or “terror” are unfounded and unacceptable. The title of the report itself is also inopportune and misleading; it mixes terrorism with the boycott issue and it creates unacceptable confusion in the public eye regarding these two distinct phenomena.”

She added that the EU strongly objects “to any suggestion of EU involvement in supporting terror or terrorism,” and that “vague and unsubstantiated accusations serve only to contribute to disinformation campaigns.”

“The EU stands firm in protecting the freedom of expression and freedom of association in line with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Freedom of expression is also applicable to information or ideas, ‘that offend, shock or disturb the State or any sector of the population.’ Any action that has the effect of closing the space in which civil society organizations operate by unduly restricting freedom of association should be avoided.”

Erdan responded to this report by stating: “It’s sad that the European Union’s foreign minister has once again chosen to hide her head in the sand and ignore the clear evidence that the BDS organizations which receive funding from it, either directly or indirectly, are linked to or cooperate with “terrorist” organizations like Hamas and the Popular Front. Mogherini admits that most of the funded organizations which appear in my ministry’s report indeed promote boycotts of “Israel”, yet she employs the ridiculous excuse that the money is given to the boycott organizations but used for other purposes, and not for their activities aimed at boycotting “Israel”.”

Source: Haaretz, Edited by website team