Two important parliamentary questions discussed at the last meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee
martedì 25 dicembre 2012 English 0 commenti
Hereinafter the texts of two parliamentary questions, submitted by Hon. Fiamma Nirenstein, Italian MP, vice-president of the Foreign Affairs Committee.The first concerns listing Hezbollah as a terror organization and the second one the public money funding the delegitimization of Israel through NGOs. They both have been discussed on December 19th, 2012 in the Foreign Affairs Committee.
The reply by the Government and a summary of the answer of Hon. Nirenstein are reported as well.
Hon. Nirenstein declared: “I received the answers just at the very last meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs before the government declared the parliamentary crisis that will bring Italy to the elections at the end of February. So, at least it is good that all the 'overwhelming questions’ were posed, and that they are now in the institutional and political memory of Europe, a continent that always seems to consider Israel, and not the Hezbollah or the Palestinians, the main source of the middle east problem”.
Article on the Jerusalem Post on December 25, 2012: http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=297203
Act of the Chamber of Deputies
Question answered in the Committee 5-08664
submitted by
FIAMMA NIRENSTEIN
Thursday, December 13th, 2012, sitting no. 734
ON LISTING THE HEZBOLLAH MOVEMENT AS A TERROR ORGANIZATION
Question answered in the Committee 5-08664
submitted by
FIAMMA NIRENSTEIN
Thursday, December 13th, 2012, sitting no. 734
ON LISTING THE HEZBOLLAH MOVEMENT AS A TERROR ORGANIZATION
To the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Provided that:
on November 23rd Spain’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gonzalo de Benito stated that Spain is working to list Hezbollah as a terrorist entity within the European framework, especially in relation to Burgas terror attack on July 12th, 2012, which claimed the lives of five Israeli tourists, the bus driver, and which wounded another thirty-six tourists, citizens of the Jewish State;
on November 11th, Austria’s Foreign Minister announced ongoing discussions within the 27 Member States of the European Union about possibly listing Hezbollah as a terrorist group;
on September 7th, on the occasion of the last summit of the Foreign Ministers of the 27 European Union Member States, while discussing about the Syrian situation, Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal urged the other representatives to brand Hezbollah and its affiliates a terrorist organization in Europe, as already done by the Governments of the United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, and Bahrein, and since 2008 by the Dutch government, the only European Nation to have adopted such measures, along with the United Kingdom, which distinguishes from Hezbollah political and military wing, the latter listed as a terrorist group;
on October 26th a bipartisan group of 76 US senators officially urged the European Union to include Hezbollah on its terror list in order to send a clear and unequivocal message of joint fight between Europe and the US against Hezbollah terrorism. Furthermore, John O. Brennan, counterterrorism chief for the White House stated that its failed inclusion in the European blacklist weakens the efficacy of the International fight to terrorism. “European opposition to ban [it] makes it harder to defend our countries and protect our citizens” he said;
Hezbollah repeatedly defies UN resolution 1701 (2006), which calls for the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese army and bans the presence of Hezbollah proxies in South Lebanon. Currently the Party of God has over 13,500 soldiers available and in October 2006 Hezbollah stated to possess an arsenal of at least 33,000 rockets, including Iranian made Fajr missiles (with a range of 45 km), Zelzal-2 (with a range of 200-400 km capable to carry a 600 kg warhead), Scud ballistic missiles, Katyusha rockets and anti-ship missiles. Furthermore, according to the US Counterterrorism Bureau, Iran provided Hezbollah with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles such as Mohajer-4;
Numerous reports, especially by refugees who fled the country, testify Hezbollah’s continuous involvement in the Syrian civil war, going on now for 20 months. To such purpose, on August 10th, US State Secretary Hillary Clinton declared that the immediate strategic objective of the US is to untether ties between Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah, which extend the life of Damascus’ regime. Moreover, on October 15th, on the occasion of the Security Council Open Debate on Middle East, US Ambassador, Susan Rice, urged the International Community to counter Hezbollah’s terrorist activities and do more to expose Hezbollah’s deepening involvement in the Syrian conflict, denouncing that pro-Iran Lebanese Hezbollah movement is fueling with men and weapons the repression of the Syrian people carried out by dictator Bashar al-Assad, by fighting against the Free Syrian Army from the Bekaa Valley, 150 kilometers east of Beirut, and by training Assad’s militia, the Shabiha, to model it into a paramilitary force;
last August the US Department of Treasury adopted new sanctions against Hezbollah for its support to the government of Syria. These new measures aim at preventing whatsoever activity or funneling funds of the Hezbollah movement within the US jurisdiction, which has already designated the Shiite Lebanese movement a terroristic organization years ago;
the European Union defines terrorist groups the ones perpetrating deliberate acts, which given their nature or the context, may seriously intimidate a population, unduly compel country or an international organization to perform or abstain from performing any act; to seriously destabilize or destroy the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or an international organization;
To know:
What stance the Government has adopted or else intends to adopt within the discussion at European level in order to include the Hezbollah movement in the terrorism list of the European Union.
Undersecretary of State to Foreign Affairs, Marta DASSÙ replies:
As known, following the heinous terror attack at Burgas airport on July 12th, which struck a bus of Israeli tourists, the EU and its Member States expresses their deepest and vigorous condemnation, and asked the perpetrators of this criminal, murderous act be brought in front of a Tribunal. Minister Terzi, expressing his dismay and his firm condemnation of the attack, called on the investigation of all responsibilities and reiterated that Italy will continue to be in the forefront to protect the fundamental right of Israel and of its citizens to security. The Government, which immediately offered Bulgarian authorities its outmost collaboration to shed light on the facts, already called for an in-depth discussion on the dynamics, the objectives of this terror act, and its implications for European collective security in the appropriate offices of the Union. At the European coordination level, the Bulgarian Government reported on the ongoing process in Sofia highlighting that so far there is no evidence of possible connections linking the attackers to Hezbollah. Moreover, the real identity of the individual died in the explosion is still undergoing verification through DNA testing.
The decision to include Hezbollah in the terrorism list of the European Union requires, as known, unanimity within the EU Council which has not yet been achieved for the purpose of such an inclusion. Currently, there is no forensic evidence proving the involvement of Hezbollah in the Burgas attack. It goes without saying that if evidence of its involvement in this or other terror attacks should arise, the current scenario would rapidly change.
The Government is still strongly determined to keep high guard in the face of the terrorist threat. It was Italy indeed to propose the inclusion of Hamas in the EU list of terror organization in 2003, following the 2001 inclusion in the list of its armed wing (Hamas-Izz al Din al Qassam). On these grounds the Government intends to constructively participate in the discussion and further evaluations which will be yielded to this purpose within the EU framework. Italy as a matter of fact intends on staying in the front line in the protection of the fundamental rights to security of Israel and its citizens. Hezbollah is a complex organization which includes a political party, a social protection network beside a military wing. As known, Hezbollah plays an active role in Lebanon’s political scene; it is part and parcel of the Lebanese Parliament and Government, that it decisively supports.
It goes without saying that the possible Hezbollah’s inclusion in the EU terrorism list would certainly impact the political and security balance in Lebanon, six months after the parliamentary elections. It is worth reminding that such balance is jeopardized by the radicalization of the Syrian conflict that increasingly, malignantly affects some areas of the country. The EU action for an efficacious fight against terrorism doesn’t come down to “listing” terrorist organizations. It is also worth reminding that the EU developed a counter-terrorism strategy in 2005 and implemented a wide package of measures for the prevention, protection, repression, and contrast of terrorism. It is indeed on these grounds that, also thanks to the supportive Italian contribution, the EU has to continue to act to ensure not only the security of EU Member States, but also Israel’s right to exist.
Summary of Hon. Fiamma NIRENSTEIN answer:
Hon Fiamma NIRENSTEIN (Pdl) expresses dissatisfaction with the Government representative’s reply, disagreeing on its underlying approach that depicts this issue as concerning Israel’s only security and not global security at large. She therefore recalls the conditions of great insecurity of Syrian citizens because of Hezbollah’s interference, as also remarked by State Secretary Clinton. She reiterates the joint stances of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, and United States and recalls the long strain of attacks perpetrated by Hezbollah from 1983 until Burgas massacre. She reiterates the need for strict initiatives at International level in order to put a halt to the perilous Hezbollah’s activism which has been accomplice to the killing of over forty-five thousand people in Syria.
Act of the Chamber of Deputies
Question answered in the Committee 5-08666
submitted by
FIAMMA NIRENSTEIN
Thursday, December 13th, 2012, sitting no. 734
Question on
THE PUBLICATION OF THE REPORT ENTITLED “HOW MUCH DOES DELEGITIMIZING ISRAEL COST?”
Question answered in the Committee 5-08666
submitted by
FIAMMA NIRENSTEIN
Thursday, December 13th, 2012, sitting no. 734
Question on
THE PUBLICATION OF THE REPORT ENTITLED “HOW MUCH DOES DELEGITIMIZING ISRAEL COST?”
To the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Provided that:
the report entitled “How much does the delegitimization of Israel cost?” caused deep outrage. The above-mentioned report, by Giovanni Matteo Quer, concerns public funding allocated to NGOs engaged in Israel’s delegitimization. It was issued on November 17th and discussed in Rome on the occasion of the 22nd National Congress of the Federation of Italy–Israel Associations. It documents that Italy has a de facto double track to run the relationships with Israel: on one side, the official one, almost entirely governmental, made up of friendship and support and, on the other side, a parallel, informal channel, yet very active in condemning, stigmatizing, and delegitimizing Israel;
Italian public institutions allocate, oftentimes without transparency and control, funds to non-governmental organizations which delegitimize the State of Israel or even question its existence, numbering sometimes among their local partners entities listed for years in the US and in Europe as terror organizations;
the afore-mentioned Report shows that the Directorate General for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported the “consolidation of the Palestinian University system” with a grant amounting to 986,000€, allocated to academic institutions like An-Najah University, place of activity and recruitment of terror groups, which held exhibitions glorifying suicide terrorism;
to know:
what the evaluation of the Government on what stated by the Report “How much does the delegitimization of Israel cost?” is;
what measures for enhanced transparency and control be appropriate to adopt, according to the Government, conditioning economic aid related to the Palestinian issue to the observance of human rights and the recognition of Israel’s right to exist by their recipients.
Undersecretary of State to Foreign Affairs, Marta DASSÙ replies:
First of all I would like to unequivocally reiterate that the Italian Government – in multilateral forums as well as in its bilateral relationships – has always expressed firm condemnation of any kind of incitement to the hatred for Israel or stances denying the right of Israel to exist, by questioning its legitimacy. Similarly the Government has always rejected and harshly condemned any action or statement meant to foment anti-Semitism. On the matter of the alleged funds of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to NGOs engaging in the delegitimization of Israel, which was the object of the recent report published by the Federation of Italy–Israel Associations, I would like to specify that obviously generally both funds allocated directly to the Palestinian authorities and the ones allocated to Italian NGOs operative in the Territories are established in total compliance with the existing provisions, being subject to the approval of the Steering Committee of the Cooperation to Development, organization chaired by law by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which enjoys the participation of representatives from other State Administrations. These funds are of course subject first of all to political evaluations, beside precise and accurate technical as well as administrative accounting supervision. On such grounds, it is out of question that the Government may favor initiatives with the purpose of the delegitimization of Israel.
The cooperation to development in particular, in accordance to its establishing Law (no. 49, dated 1987), pursues the objectives of solidarity among the peoples, of the fulfillment of basic needs and promotion of social-economic welfare of their recipients. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is subject to the same principles also when implementing plans in the framework of the PMSP (Palestinian Municipalities Support Program) Program, which since 2008 funded assistance interventions supporting Palestinian municipalities, in strict relations with some Italian local authorities. The funds allocated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in favor of the Palestinian National Authority fall within the framework of the foreign policy that Italy carried out coherently with the International community and with the Quartet in particular. Our contributions have long been targeted to support sectors deemed essential for the development of that region, such as economic development and infrastructures in the Territories, as proven by the last Joint Italy–PNA Ministerial Committee Meeting on November 23rd. On such occasion the commitment of the Italian cooperation to allocate funds to the development aid was renewed, in strict collaboration with the UNRWA, in favor of the civil society and Palestinian refugees. On the same line emergency interventions will be favored, as well as initiatives in health-care, mainly medical technical assistance and health-care management, in institution building, justice and human rights protection, and private sector, in particular small and medium sized enterprises.
Concerning the funds allocated to Italian NGOs in details, the Directorate General for Development Cooperation, in observance of the fundamental provision and principles in matter of administrative actions and political accounting, subordinates their disbursement to the compliance by the receiving NGOs with certain provisions and procedures aiming to bestow the above-mentioned NGOs the so said Ministerial eligibility, essential requisite to access funds of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In accordance with art. 28 of Law no. 49 dated 1987 the Directorate General for Development Cooperation adopts measures for the Ministerial eligibility of those NGOs which, as provided by paragraph 4, letter b) of the above-cited article 28, “have as their institutional purpose to carry out activities of development cooperation in favor of third world populations” – activities absolutely incompatible with the pursuit of political aims such as the delegitimization of a sovereign State such as Israel; at the same time they also need to offer appropriate guarantees from the point of view of the professional qualifications of their own operators in carrying out humanitarian initiatives. To this purpose, I would like to specify concerning the initiatives on the “consolidation of the Palestinian University system” mentioned by the questioning Honorable Member, that this initiative did not imply direct funding to academic institutions like An-Najah University. The grant amounting to 986 thousand Euros for this project was actually allocated by the Development Cooperation to the University of Pavia for the implementation of a graduate program in Italy of 14 Philosophy Doctors coming from the main Palestinian universities. I would like to highlight that this academic path entirely took place on the Italian territory, in seven universities, affiliated with the program, in our Country and I would like to once again reiterate that no funding has been granted to An-Najah University.
Finally, concerning the specific, totally fair, call for transparency formulated in the Report and referred to by the questioning Honorable Member, I would like to state precisely that the activities of NGOs co-funded by the Italian Cooperation are subject to numerous, in-depth controlling both by the Directorate General for Development Cooperation and by external supervisory bodies, in order to ensure conformity of the initiative to the afore-mentioned transparency administrative and accounting principles.
Besides, the deliberations concerning the funding of the Italian Cooperation have long been published on the Bulletin of the Cooperation to Development and on its relative Internet website, always entirely accessible to the public.
At last, it should not be forgotten, again from the point of view of political control on our cooperation activities, the main Parliament supervision, performed with great attention and accuracy by examining the by Law provided budgetary and balance reports on the activities of development cooperation, as well as in the exercise of its continuous supervising and political duty. Such controlling duty is indeed looked at by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the utmost attention, in a perspective of sharing the cooperation activities and consolidation of the Government action.
Summary of Hon. Fiamma NIRENSTEIN answer:
Hon Fiamma NIRENSTEIN (Pdl) expresses her dissatisfaction; nonetheless she appreciates the technical commitment in the reply. Irrespective of the contents of the reply, she believes that also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs possesses full awareness of the actual activities of numerous NGOs, recipients of also indirect contributions, for instance by the means of local authorities, which contribute to the incitement, to the delegitimization and to the hatred against Israel. She recalls that the Constitution confers merely on the State on the matter of foreign policy, reminding that only the State is entitled to establish such policy, hence to corroborate the need for local authorities to exert their powers in observance with the unitary political line set at a central level, which currently does not happen. She then recalls some data concerning conspicuous contribution disbursed by Italy in favor of non-governmental institutions operating in the Palestinian territories and to UNRWA, which unfortunately end up funding also entities which spread terrorism and anti-Semitic messages. She highlights that the very same considerations apply for the duly financial support that our Country grants the Palestinian agriculture sector or else to Palestinian women’s emancipation, with totally different results from the ones welcomed, considered the approach of the NGOs engaged in those fields. She therefore expresses the need for the Ministry of Foreign affairs to repossess the global foreign policy and to vigorously provide, to ensure transparency of procedures, an essential tenet of democracy, in order to prevent any ambiguity by accurately checking the ideological foundation that motivates the activities of the funding recipients.