english french german greek italian lithuanian russian serbian spanish
Home arrow newsitems arrow Commonwealth's Chief Rabbi, Sir Sacks, to "EuroFora" : "Truth can unite People for a Better Future"

Commonwealth's Chief Rabbi, Sir Sacks, to "EuroFora" : "Truth can unite People for a Better Future"

Written by ACM
Wednesday, 19 November 2008
 
dsc00639_400 
 
    Commonwealth's Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, to "EuroFora" : Truth on Dark Past, can unite People for a better Future.

- EU Parliament's President, German ChristianDemocrat MEP Hans Gert Poettering, backs the move.



     Truth, even on the darkest tragedies of division, can unite People together for a better common Future, agreed Commonwealth and UK's Chief Rabbi, Sir  Jonathan Sacks, in reply to a question by "EuroFora" at a Press Conference with EU Parliament's President Hans Gert Poettering, in Strasbourg,

    - "We must always confront the TRUTH, and remember the Truth. The Alternative is to live a Lie !".

    - "And we must remember, both our People's sufferings, and other People's sufferings. For one specific purpose : We cannot change the Past, but, by remembering the Past, we can change the Future", he stressed. "We must remember Not in anger, resent or revenge, but always looking towards the Future, and to Hope", concluded Commonwealth's Chief Rabbi, Sir Sacks.

    He was replying to a "EuroFora's Question if he felt important, not only for Human Rights, but also Moraly and even Politicaly, "no to hide, but to find the Truth, on what really happened in serious Tragedies, as f.ex. on "Missing" persons or others, not in order to provoke hate, but, on the contrary, to bring together the People, as a guarantee that this will never happen again in Future". I.e. "using bad times they shared in Past divisions, in order to head towards a better common Future".

    - "What can bring ..together is a shared History of suffering", "take bad moments and use them to bring People together, because they are suffering together", he advised earlier.

    - "I completely agree with what the Rabbi said", echoed EU Parliament's President, Hans Gert POETTERING, who had introduced our Question. Poettering, a German MEP whose own father was killed during the 2nd World War, and a convinced European, reminded that EU Parliament had just "held a Commemoration to mark the 70th anniversary of the "Crystal Night", or "ReichsPogromNacht" :- "Such Tragedies, as also Shoah, Pogrom, Intolerance, etc., teach us a lesson that must be never forgotten", stressed EU Parliament's President this week in Strasbourg.
-------------
    We had warned the Chief Rabbi that we raised that question after coming from an exceptional ECHR's Hearing on the tragic cases of 9 People gonne "Missing", until one of them was found killed with bullets shot at his head from short distance. -"Never mind where this happened, never mind who was the responsible State. But as a matter of general principle", we told Sir Jonathan Sacks.

    Significantly, the Commonwealth's Chief Rabbi made that point just minutes after the first in History ECHR's public hearing on Cyprus' "Missing" People's tragedy, in the Human Rights' building facing EU Parliament, at the other side of Strasbourg's river.

    The two sons of a peaceful Bank employee, who was kindapped at a coffee-shop by Turkish militia after the 1974 clash with Ankara's army, his bank robbed, his wife left without any news his fate more than 30 years, until his body was found recently with bullets shot at his head, but without knowing who was responsible for the brutal killing, eyed a representative of the Turkish government multiply legal technicalities against any complaint...

    Obviously seized by strong emotions, they didn't say a word.

    A Greek Cypriot Lawyer expressed  "sympathy" for some Turkish Cypriot "Missing" people's families affected at earlier clashes, but stressed also his belief that if they had lodged an application in Cyprus, the Government would have done all its possible to help them, while, on the contrary, Ankara never did any efficient investigation for thousands of Greek Cypriots gone "Missing" after the Turkish military invasion of 1974, despite repeated CoE and ECHR's calls since a 1992 Report and a 2001 judgement.

    Old women and other representatives of 9 persons gone "Missing" without any news about them, were present. One, tears in her eyes, told "Eurofora"  - "I searched everywhere. I went to all demonstrations with other families, in vain, Eye-witnesses said that they saw him in prison in mainland Turkey, but afterwards, nothing. I waited for him for years, and my life withered away for three decades. They owe us the truth. This must not be forgotten !".

    The Chief Rabbi spoke side to side with EU Parliament's President, Hans Gert Poettering, who said that he "completely agreed" on that, and, replying to a related question by "EuroFora", pleaded for a "Dialogue between Religions" to continue, even after his current term, hopping also that, after representatives of Muslims, the Dalai Lama, Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomeos and the Chief Rabbi, EU Parliament will succeed also to welcome the Christian Catholic Pope Benedict XVI, a worlwide Moral leader, even if "it might take as long to prepare as with his predecessor, John Paul II", who visited Strasbourg 20 years earlier, in 1988.





Enterprises' Competitiveness for 2014-2020

Statistics

Visitors: 56530530

Archive

Login Form





Remember me

Lost your Password?
No account yet? Create account

Syndicate

RSS 0.91
RSS 1.0
RSS 2.0
ATOM 0.3
OPML

Other Menu

Sarkozy and Merkel want deals with Obama on European Security at Strasbourg's NATO 2009 Summit

oscenato
------------------
In parallel but concording moves, EU Chair, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angie Merkel both invited this week US-President elect, Barack Obama, to discuss important deals breaking new ground on European Security during the NATO's 60 Years Anniversary Summit of Heads of State in Strasbourg, where Obama is expected to make his 1st visit to Europe as a President on April 2009.

Merkel focused mainly on smoother NATO - EU Defence and Security policy cooperation, while Sarkozy spoke about PanEuropean Security, associating both Russia and the USA, proposing to freeze missile and shields' deployement until an agreement is reached.

But both tackled some hard nuts to crack : Turkey's VETO against the participation of EU Member Cyprus to EU-NATO cooperation, and Russia's anouncement on deployment of missiles up to Kaliningrad, at EU's belly, in reply to USA's wish to set up missile shields in EU States such as Poland or Czech Republic, etc.


---------------------
- "Certainly...one of the points that we'll dicuss with the New US President", Barak OBAMA, "who will come f'or the 1st time in Europe as president, at the NATO Summit", co-hosted by France and Germany in Strasbourg, ""concerns, above all, the European Security and Defence Policy" (ESDP), and "the relations between NATO and its partners", with whom it should "work together", anounced earlier this week Merkel.

We must find "a reasonable and adequate concept to articulate NATO and European Security and Defense policy", because of a "series of practical issues, sometimes difficult to understand", but that "we must discuss".

nato__merkel

- "An example" of that is "the issue of Cyprus and Turkey", said Merkel, where Ankara raises problems "from Kosovo up to Afghanistan", as also CoE's chair, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt recently observed in Strasbourg replying to EuroFora's questions.

- "We must do something to smoothen this problem for good, and not only on a case-by-case basis, laboriously negotiated each time". Here, we must find "a reasonable and adequate concept to articulate NATO and European Security and Defense policy", Merkel stressed.

- "With good will from all sides, it could and should be posible. Germany wants also to help on that". Otherwise, "the coming generations will not understand why it took Decades to do so". But, if we "don't even achieve that for Decades, this would be an Historic Failure !", the German Chancellor warned

- "I think that our American partners are increasingly realizing that", Merkel said, pleading for "a stronger European Security and Defence policy, with which, I believe, the Atlantic Security Partnership can also strengthen and solidify".

Meanwhile, USA is also due to take in 2009 a special status inside EU-led EUROCORPS, the European Army HeadQuarters, based in Strasbourg.

Merkel said that after meeting in Berlin with NATO's Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, earlier this week, precisely in order to "prepare NATO's Summit", scheduled for the beginning of April 2009 in Strasbourg.

Scheffe, knows well Strasbourg, since he chaired the CoE, as Holland's Foreign Minister, when he brokered a controversial deal precisely on Turkey and Cyprus about the implementation of ECHR judgements on Greek Cypriot displaced persons' houses and properties in 2003. He returned later at least once, for a WEO meeting at the CoE, where he precisely had highlighted such EU - NATO issues.

EU Commission's 2008 Report on Turkey has just observed that, on European Defense - Security policy, "Turkey continues to object to EU-NATO Cooperation which would involve all EU Member States". "This created Problems for EU-NATO co-operation in the context of Civilian ESDP missions, in particular in Kosovo and Afghanistan".
----

uerussie_400 

 French EU Chair, President Sarkozy and Merkel are visiting Washington on Friday and Saturday for a Global G-20 Summit with current US President George Bush, on the sidelines of which are expected preparatory contacts with US President-elect Obama's entourage, even if himself might stay in Chicago until he takes over on January 21.

Before going to Washington, Sarkozy concluded today an UE - Russia Summit with Dmitry Medvedev, where they "spoke in length on PanEuropean Security" :

- As EU President, I proposed that we meet on mid-2009 in a framework such as OSCE's in order to set the foundations of a Future Pan-European Security, which would associate Russia and USA, and that, meanwhile, nobody speaks about deploying missiles or shields, which complicate the situation".

- NATO's Summit in Strasbourg-Kehl, on April 2009 is a perfect occasion to discuss with our American friends and to prepare a possible OSCE Summit for these issues f.ex. for June or July", Sarkozy concluded.

- We must all abstain from Unilateral measures" dangerous for Europe's security. "Russia only reacted to decisions taken by some other countries. But if they are ready to cooperate, we are ready to discuss. EU could be an intermediary", added Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, before going himself too at the Washington G-20 Economic Summit.

Polls

2009 EU Elections were won by Parties against Technocracy and Turkey's controversial EU bid, while the 1999-2004 Majority Abstention trend decelerated. What should be done in 2009-2014 ?

Results

SMF Recent Topics SA

Copyright (c) 2007-2009 EIW/SENAS - EuroFora.net. All rights reserved. ISSN 1969-6361.
Powered by Elxis - Open Source CMS.