Ue, MO, guerra, Germania Deutsche Welle 06-07-16
L’Europa cerca di mediare nel conflitto che infuria in
Medio Oriente
Il settimanale tedesco Der
Spiegel ha riferito che, su richiesta USA, la Merkel ha parlato con a funzionari
israeliani rimarcando la fragile situazione del Libano, che non deve essere ulteriormente
destabilizzato; la notizia non è stata confermata dal governo.
Il ministro tedesco degli Esteri, Steinmeier: comprende il
bisogno di autodifesa di Israele, ma critica l’attacco contro le infrastrutture
libanesi come “reazione non necessaria”.
–
Dubbi CDU sulla capacità della Germania di mediare nell’attuale
conflitto mediorientale: l’esperto per gli Esteri CDU, Eckart von Klaeden:
questa volta la mediazione sarà difficile, mancano a palestinesi e libanesi partner
disposti e in grado di esercitare una forte influenza sui terroristi; von Klaeden
ha dichiarato al Passauer Neuen Presse che Israele è stata attaccata ed ha il diritto
di difendersi.
–
Elmar Brok, presidente della commissione affari esteri
del parlamento europeo chiede un viaggio di mediazione congiunto nella regione
dei ministri degli Esteri USA e Russia + Solana + alto rappresentante ONU.
–
Aumenta in Germania la critica alla risposta di
Israele.
–
Il ministro tedesco per lo Sviluppo Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
ha dichiarato sull’edizione domenicale del Tagesspiel:
«Il fatto che vengano bombardati obiettivi civili e civili in un altro paese è
contro il diritto internazionale ed è del tutto inaccettabile.» Il ministro ha
anche criticato i raid sulla Striscia di Gaza; la situazione a Gaza è
«particolarmente difficile per la popolazione palestinese, che si trova in
condizioni umanitarie terribili». Ha criticato gli USA per aver bloccato una
risoluzione proposta al C.d.S. ONU che chiedeva ad Israele di porre fine alla
sua offensiva contro il Libano.
Da Der Tagesspiel del
19.7.06, Bombardamenti e propaganda di guerra
Il segretario generale FDP ha chiesto un chiarimento al governo
sulle dichiarazioni della Wieczorek-Zeul.
Il deputato dei Verdi Jerzy ha dichiarato che non è il momento di «fare
delle critiche ad Israele … un ministro della Repubblica federale tedesca deve chiederesi
in questa situazione se sia giustificato, sensato e politicamente utile».
Deutsche Welle 06-07-16
Europe Looks To Mediate In Raging Middle East Conflict
Merkel with Blair – the Mideast crisis is dominating the G8 summit in Russia
Along with other European nations, Germany is attempting to de-escalate the raging Middle East conflict amid fears the crisis could explode
into a regional war.
–
German weekly news
magazine Spiegel reported on Sunday that the United
States had asked Merkel to speak to Israeli officials and
she told them that Lebanon
was in a fragile state and should not be destabilized.
Germany has acted as a mediator between Israel and Lebanon-based guerilla
group Hezbollah in the past.
–
The German government however
has not confirmed the magazine report.
Israeli forces have been pounding
Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon
since the militant organization captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight
on Wednesday. Around 100
Lebanese, all but a handful of them civilians, have been killed in the air and ground strikes, which Israel has said could continue for weeks or
months, until Hezbollah’s ability to fire rockets into Israel is
destroyed.
The escalating conflict has sparked
fears of full-out war.
Merkel speaks with Jordan’s King
Abdullah
The German government said Merkel spoke
with Jordan’s King Abdullah
on Sunday afternoon from St Petersburg
where she is attending a Group of Eight summit.
"The German chancellor and the foreign minister, along with
their counterparts from other EU countries, are having numerous conversations,
including with representatives of Israel and the Arab countries,"
a statement said.
"The conversations are aimed at
contributing to a de-escalation of the situation and stabilizing the Lebanese
government," it said.
European
leaders could mediate
The Middle East
crisis is dominating the G8 summit and several leaders have expressed concern
at the escalating violence.
–
Italian state television reported on Sunday that Prime
Minister Romano Prodi was mediating in the conflict. It
said that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert had conveyed to the Lebanese government via Prodi the conditions for an
end to the Israeli offensive. They include the release of the two kidnapped
Israeli soldiers and the withdrawal of Hezbollah from southern Lebanon.
Iran and Syria must demonstrate that they are trying to
ease the escalating crisis in the Middle
East, British
Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman said at the summit on Sunday.
"People know the links between Iran and Syria and the extremists in this
situation," the spokesman said, referring to the militant Lebanese Shiite
movement Hezbollah.
"Therefore, all countries in the
region have to play their part in calming the situation down," he said.
"It is up to Iran and Syria to show
that that is what they are doing."
–
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, who has said he
understand Israel’s need for self-defense but has criticized the country’s
strikes against Lebanese infrastructure targets as not a "necessary
reaction," said in a statement that he had spoken
by telephone with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Saturday.
He said the two had agreed that all
efforts must be directed towards an easing of the situation. Steinmeier also underlined the
importance of the mediating efforts of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana,
who was expected to begin negotiating with the warring sides on Saturday.
–
Steinmeier also said he had been in intensive talks in
recent days with officials in the region, including the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt
and Syria.
Critics question German mediation
–
But some doubt Germany’s ability to mediate in the current Mideast conflict.
–
Germany
enjoys a good reputation in the region and would do everything to contribute
towards de-escalation, said Eckart von Klaeden, foreign policy expert of the conservative Christian
Democratic Party (CDU). "But this time mediation will be difficult because
both the Palestinian and Lebanese camps lack partners who are ready and able to
exercise considerable influence on the terrorists," he warned.
–
Von Klaeden added that cause
and effect should not be confused. "That means, Israel was
attacked and has the right to defend itself," he told German newspaper
Passauer Neuen Presse.
–
Elmar Brok, head of the European Parliament’s Foreign
Affairs Committee called for a joint
mediation trip to the region by the foreign ministers of the United States and Russia along with Solana and a high-ranking UN representative.
"The Americans aren’t trusted by
the Palestinians, the Russians don’t have credibility with the Israelis and the
Europeans are trusted only to an extent," Brok told German paper B.Z.
"But all of them together could stand for a security guarantee and could
thus manage to broker a solution successfully."
Minister slams Israeli strikes
As the violence continues to simmer on
the Israel-Lebanon border, criticism
is mounting in Germany about
Israel’s
response.
–
German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said Sunday that Israel’s
attacks on civilian targets in Lebanon
were "completely unacceptable."
"The fact that civilian targets and
civilians in another state are being bombarded is against international law and
completely unacceptable," the minister was quoted as saying in Sunday’s
edition of Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Wieczorek-Zeul said Israel should "do everything
possible to protect the civilian population," and also criticised its raids on the Gaza Strip,
aimed at retrieving an abducted soldier and halting rocket attacks.
–
She said the situation in Gaza was "particularly bad for the
Palestinian population, who are in a dire humanitarian situation." But she also called on the Palestinian government and the
militant Shiite movement Hezbollah "to do everything possible to ensure
the captured Israeli soldiers are freed and to stop firing rockets at Israel."
–
Wieczorek-Zeul criticized the United
States for blocking a proposed United Nations Security
Council resolution calling on Israel
to end its offensive against Lebanon.
"How can we call on the Security
Council to resolve other problems in a credible manner when they stop the body
from acting when the Middle East conflict
threatens to explode?" she asked.
Germans leave Lebanon
Meanwhile, about 100 Germans living in Lebanon have left the country for Syria, the
German foreign ministry said on Saturday.
The ministry said the Germans started
heading for the Syrian border in convoys on Friday.
"We are trying to organize further
help with transport. The embassy in Beirut
is assisting all Germans who approach us," a spokeswoman said.
There are about 1,100 Germans living in Lebanon,
according to the ministry. About half of them hold dual nationality.
DW staff (sp)| www.dw-world.de | ©
Deutsche Welle.
————————-
Der
Tagesspiel 06-07-19
BOMBENANGRIFFE
UND KRIEGSPROPAGANDA
Die Krise im Nahen Osten – Schwer vereinbar
Juristen sehen
in Israels Angriffen Verstoß gegen Völkerrecht – und stützen Haltung von
Wieczorek-Zeul
Berlin – Seit
einer Woche bombardiert die israelische Luftwaffe Dörfer im Süden Libanons, an
der Küste und im Norden des Landes. Immer wieder schlagen Raketen in der
Hauptstadt Beirut ein, am Dienstag ist erneut die wichtigste Verbindungsstraße
zwischen Beirut und Damaskus angegriffen worden, auf der auch ein Großteil der
ausländischen Flüchtlinge den Libanon verlässt. Ob diese Angriffe auf Brücken,
den Hafen, das Elektrizitätsnetz des Landes bis hin zu Tankstellen noch mit dem
Völkerrecht vereinbar sind, darüber gibt es heftigen Streit. Zumal im Libanon
inzwischen mehr als 230 Zivilisten getötet worden sind – die Angriffe sich aber
gegen die Kämpfer der radikalislamischen Hisbollah-Miliz richten sollen.
Diese wiederum
haben nach Angaben der israelischen Armee seit Beginn des Konflikts mehr als
700 Raketen auf Städte im Norden Israels gefeuert, in Haifa wurden dabei am
Dienstag mehrere Menschen verletzt, insgesamt wurden in Israel seit Beginn der
Offensive mindestens 24 Menschen getötet.
–
Prominenteste Kritikerin des israelischen Vorgehens
ist Bundesentwicklungsministerin Heidemarie Wieczorek- Zeul (SPD). Sie hat die Bombardierung von „zivilen
Einrichtungen und Zivilisten in einem anderen Staat“ als „völkerrechtlich
völlig inakzeptabel“ bezeichnet, womit sie zum Teil auf herbe Kritik gestoßen
ist.
–
FDP-Generalsekretär Dirk Niebel verlangte eine
Klarstellung der Bundesregierung zu den Äußerungen Wieczorek-Zeuls. Es sei
„hoch interessant“, ob sie damit die Einschätzung der Regierung artikuliere oder „nur ihre Privatmeinung vertritt“.
–
Der Grünen-Abgeordnete Jerzy Montag sagte, es sei
nicht der richtige Zeitpunkt „mit Schuldzuweisungen an Israel zu operieren“. „Eine Ministerin der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland muss sich in dieser Situation schon fragen, ob das berechtigt,
sinnvoll und politisch nützlich ist.“
Der Berliner Rechtsprofessor Christian Tomuschat
unterstützt die Kritik Wieczorek-Zeuls. Im Gespräch mit dem Tagesspiegel wies er darauf hin, dass völkerrechtlich
zwischen dem grundsätzlichen Selbstverteidigungsrecht der Staaten, dem „ius ad
bellum“, und den Formen der Kriegsführung, dem „ius in bellum“, unterschieden
werden müsse. So sei es nicht
völkerrechtswidrig, dass Israel auf den Artikel 51 der UN-Charta zurückgreife.
Dieser spricht den Staaten das Recht zur Selbstverteidigung nach einem militärischen
Angriff auf ihr Territorium zu. „Hier muss jedoch zwischen dem Was und
dem Wie unterschieden werden“, so Tomuschat. Die Bombardierung nicht eindeutig
militärischer Ziele sei mit den völkerrechtlichen Abkommen zum Schutz der
Zivilbevölkerung „nur schwer vereinbar“. „Die vierte Genfer Konvention legt
fest, dass Krieg nur gegen Kombattanten geführt werden darf. Ob dies zum
Beispiel bei einem Angriff auf ein Elektrizitätswerk oder auf den Flughafen
gegeben ist, halte ich für fragwürdig.“ Der Londoner Völkerrechtler Philippe
Sands betonte, Angriffe auf zivile Einrichtungen seien „selbst dann verboten“,
wenn die gegnerischen Angriffe sich auf solche Ziele richteten. nah/AFP