Extremist Settlers Call for ‘Muzzling’ of Europe Envoy
Image by European Union
The European Union has condemned a campaign by a new settler organization that verbally attacks its envoy in Jerusalem.
The video posted Sunday on Facebook by the Jerusalem’s Periphery Forum, which represents Jewish communities south of Jerusalem, criticizes the EU for funding illegal homes for Bedouin and Palestinians along the major North-South Route 1.
The 30-second video holds EU envoy Lars Faaborg-Andersen responsible for the construction and calls for him to be “muzzled.” The last image is of Faaborg-Andersen wearing the muzzle seen on Hannibal Lechter in “The Silence of the Lambs.”
A senior member of Israel’s Foreign Ministry staff apologized to Faaborg-Andersen, The Jerusalem Post reported.
In a statement, the EU said: “Resorting to personal threats and slander can never be justified, despite differences of opinion. To raise allegations of the EU supporting terror is unacceptable. We appreciate that the Israeli government has quickly condemned the video and we trust that the Israeli authorities will take appropriate action.”
The statement also defended the housing, saying it was justified under international law as humanitarian aid for people who otherwise would be homeless.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
