Reuters - 06.26.2003

Reuters' AlertNet

US lawmakers criticize EU's Solana on anti-Semitism


By Adam Entous 

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana came under fire on Thursday from some U.S. lawmakers who quoted him as saying reports of rising anti-Semitism in Europe were overblown. 

Solana also told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting that European leaders intended to maintain ties to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat over U.S. and Israeli objections, participants told Reuters. 

The comments sparked an angry backlash from some lawmakers on the House of Representatives International Relations Committee, who asserted that anti-Semitism was rising at a rate unseen since the end of World War Two and that EU contacts with Arafat undermined President George W. Bush's efforts to advance the "road map" peace initiative. 

"When the issue of increased anti-Semitism was raised, he looked at us and said, 'There's no anti-Semitism. There's no wave of anti-Semitism in Europe,'" Florida Democratic Rep. Robert Wexler said. Solana spoke to the group, which met on the sidelines of Wednesday's U.S.-EU summit. 

"I was stunned to hear him say, more or less, that there has not been a rise in anti-Semitism in Europe. And so I said, 'Oh, it must be another Europe.' And other members couldn't believe it either," said Florida Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a leader on the committee. 

EU officials in Washington had no immediate comment. 

Bush and Israel's supporters in Congress have been pressing European leaders for weeks to cut off ties to Arafat, who they see as an obstacle to peace. 

Lawmakers said Solana defended the contacts, arguing that the meetings with Arafat were an opportunity to encourage him to support Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and the road map. 

Lawmakers also pressed Solana to outlaw Hamas' political wing. "He really sidestepped that issue," Wexler said. France, which opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, has insisted that the Palestinian militant group remains a necessary player in the peace process. 

U.S. officials have urged Europe to do more to curb anti-Semitic violence, citing an increase in attacks in many European countries on Jews, their synagogues and graveyards. 

The EU has said it is taking action to stiffen anti-prejudice laws and has already strongly condemned anti-Semitic violence in parts of the 15-nation bloc in the first half of 2002.