Wednesday, July 12, 2006
France: Israel's new old friend?
How did I miss this?
Arab states asked the Security Council to demand Israel's immediate withdrawal from Gaza, but France and the United States, veto-wielding permanent members, criticized their proposed resolution as unbalanced.
Few Americans have noticed, but in the last year France has moved rather decisively to align its foreign policy with the United States. It has been so hawkish on Iran that some observers think that it is less negotiating in good faith with Tehran than rebuilding its relationship with Washington. Now it is bothering -- and I use the word "bothering" advisedly -- to join the United States in objecting to a one-sided resolution condemning Israel for the Gaza incursion. It would have been very easy for France to simply keep silent and allow the United States to take all the heat from the Muslim world for standing up for Israel, as has happened so often in the past. What's going on? Well, rank-and-file French have become decidedly more sympathetic with Israel in the last couple of years. See, for example, the table below, which is clipped from the most recent Pew Center Global Attitudes Survey.
Four years ago, almost twice as many French sympathized with the Palestinian Arabs as with the Israelis. This year, the numbers are even. The government of France wants a "balanced" resolution because that is what its voters want.
CWCID: The Big Pharoah.
UPDATE: A couple of sharp-eyed commenters offer a more obvious reason for France's position: Galid Shalit, the Israeli corporal held hostage in Gaza, is a French national. I had missed that. So, apparently, had the dirtbags who snatched him. Why would the Palestinian radicals go out of their way to anger France? Perhaps because they are the most politically incompetent people in the entire world.
5 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Jul 12, 02:39:00 AM:
I'm pretty sure that Cpl. Shalit holds French citizenship
By , at
Wed Jul 12, 03:10:00 AM:
He does hold french citizenship:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilad_Shalit
First papagraph
By 
TigerHawk, at
Wed Jul 12, 06:21:00 AM:
Sharp observation. I had missed that entirely.
By Cardinalpark, at
Wed Jul 12, 03:23:00 PM:
Anthonyrio - your blather is incomprehensible. Please rewrite it in English. Then please back up your platitudinous assertions and accusions toward Israel and Jewish people with some facts please.
The only people Hamas suicide murderers kill are civilians. Israel very generously uses ground troops and targetting to go after military targets which use civilian and child human shields.
I assert you have no idea what you are talking about.
By Dawnfire82, at
Wed Jul 12, 07:15:00 PM:
"I find it difficult to remain loyal to Isreal"
This is a suspect comment.
"when they continue to hold Lebanon and Palestine responsible for a few."
Well lessee... The Palestinian government is run by a political party called Hamas. Members of Hamas attacked the Israeli Army and killed and kidnapped their soldiers. Hamas did not disavow the act; rather it is protecting the perpetrators. Therefore, the Palestinian government is responsible. a=b=c, you know.
For Lebanon... what would you think if an American terrorist group raided Canada and killed and kidnapped Canadian citizens and fled back to the US, and then the US said "nah, we're not going to do anything about it." You'd sure as shit (Texas idiom) hold the US responsible then, so why not Lebanon in this instance? At the very least they could condemn it but privately admit impotence (since Hazb Allah is big and armed) but they didn't even do that.
