Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor called upon the European Union to add Hezbollah to its list of recognized terror groups on Tuesday, slamming those European states who still classify Hezbollah as a charity. “Not since Napoleon invaded Russia has the European continent seen such an astonishing lack of foresight,” Prosor was quoted by the Israeli foreign ministry as saying of the charity designation. “…Calling Hezbollah a charity is like calling al Qaida an urban-planning organization because of its desire to level tall buildings.”
The impassioned speech by Prosor to the UN Security Council follows the recent determination by EU member Bulgaria that Hezbollah was behind a bus bombing attack last July in Burgas that killed five Israelis and one Bulgarian.
Some European states do characterize at least some aspect of Hezbollah as terrorists, including the UK, which labels the military wing of the group as such. Hezbollah has members in the Lebanese government and currently is a key player in the ruling Lebanese coalition.
Prosor, without mentioning the UK directly, said breaking down the Lebanese group into political and military wings is “an exercise in futility.”
“The only ‘difference’ between these two wings is that the political wing negotiates the sum of drug cartel money that the military wing later uses to purchase weaponry,” said Prosor. “It does not take a Nobel Peace Prize laureate to realize that we are not exactly dealing with a selfless humanitarian organization.”
Aside from Israel, Canada and the US have spoken out about the need to take a tougher stance on Hezbollah. Following Bulgaria’s announcement on its investigation, US Secretary of State John Kerry called upon Europe to “take immediate action to crack down on Hezbollah,” although he did not explicitly call for the terrorist designation at the time. The US has classified Hezbollah as a terror group.
Prosor was clear in calling for the designation in his speech. “One does not need the fortitude of Richard the Lionheart to do the right thing here. The EU must find the moral and political courage to place Hezbollah on its list of terrorist organizations,” said the Israeli diplomat. “…Today I urge this Council to heed the simple yet immortal words of Edmund Burke (and I quote): ‘The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.’”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, February 13, 2013)