Open door for fascists

In the wake of the defeat of fascism in Europe, one of the bodies founded to prevent future wars and to promote democratic values was the Council of Europe. Sadly, the Council of Europe has developed a habit of betraying its core values. Despite the crimes of Russian forces in Chechnya, Russia was admitted to the Council of Europe. Despite its patent lack of democracy, Azerbaijan was also allowed to enter the body. By contrast, Greece under the colonels’ junta was pressured into withdrawing from the Council of Europe in 1969.
Now the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has gone one better and has invited the elected fascists of Hamas to its April 10-13, 2006 session in Strasbourg. Hamas openly advocates terrorism, glorifies murder and advocates genocide (for example, one Hamas deputy is Mariam Farahat who told her son not to come back alive from a terrorist mission). None of that can be bleached out by Hamas’ election victory, nor will embracing Hamas lead to the two-state settlement that is the best future for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Hamas shows no signs of strategic flexibility in its desire to wipe Israel off of the map.
To make matters even more grotesque, Israeli army officers and Israeli who have fought fascism and terrorism are increasingly finding it difficult to travel to EU countries because of the threat of frivolous law suits.
Let’s see how many writs will be served on the Hamas fascists.
Andrew Apostolou (pyjama free).