‎”The battle for the equal value of all people and against antisemitism and racism is a part of foreign ‎policy. Sweden and the EU have a major duty to stand up for the values of the freedom and equal rights ‎of all people upon which our societies are based when we formulate and conduct our foreign policy. ‎Sweden is also working to strengthen a culture of dialogue and promote democratic developments so as ‎to undermine the conditions that foster extremism,” Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said ‎on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. ‎

That would be the same Wallstrom who excuses and justifies terrorism against Israelis and who recently ‎called for an investigation to determine if Israel had been committing “extrajudicial killings” during ‎the recent terror onslaught from the Palestinian Authority. As many Israelis pointed out on social media following her ‎remarks, it hardly gets more hypocritical than this.‎

However, Wallstrom’s remarks really are quite representative of Europe, which wallows in ‎commemorations of dead Jews; however, when it comes to the living — not so much. This can be especially ‎prevalent among those who pride themselves on having saved Jews during World War II, such ‎as Danes. In one exchange, which took place on a Danish journalist’s Facebook page, the response of ‎several of his Danish readers to his latest status updates about murdered Israelis in Judea and Samaria ‎was that these “settlers” were “war criminals” and “thieves” and consequently had no right of self-‎defense. Implicitly, no right to live either. Although extreme, you would be surprised (or perhaps not so ‎surprised) at just how many Europeans hold such views.‎

While commemorating dead Jews from the Shoah, Europe welcomes one of the most active regimes ‎when it comes to Holocaust denial. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is being welcomed in Paris and in ‎Rome. In the latter city, the government decided to humiliate itself completely by covering up nude ‎statues in the center of Rome, so that Rouhani’s Muslim sensitivities would not be offended by the works ‎of Michelangelo and Bernini. The move was widely ridiculed across the political spectrum in Italy. ‎Meanwhile, no Italian seemed bothered by Iran’s proclamation of its annual mock-the-Holocaust-‎because- we-deny-it-ever-took-place contest, in which the cartoonist who most viciously mocks the Nazi ‎genocide is awarded $50,000. ‎

While commemorating dead Jews from the Shoah, Europe is busier than ever conspiring against the living ‎Jews in Israel. ‎

Europe’s funding of PA terror is legendary. “We demand that they [donor countries] monitor the use of ‎the money and make sure it is not used to fund terrorism or incitement. It is time for the world to stop ‎incitement and terrorism by truly supervising its donations [to the Palestinians],” Deputy Foreign Minister ‎Tzipi Hotovely said Sunday in a meeting with foreign dignitaries in Jerusalem. She also told them that the ‎stipends paid by the Palestinian Authority to terrorists’ families amounts to some $75 million a year — ‎about 20% of the donations funneled to the PA from Western nations and bodies. Hotovely said she ‎believed these benefits may now even exceed 20% of donor funds. Hotovely told the meeting that per ‎capita, the Palestinian Authority receives far more foreign aid than any other country in the world — ‎roughly $800 million a year on average. Palestinians receive assistance to the tune of $170 per person, ‎while Syrians, for example, receive an average of $106 per person.‎

The labeling of products from Judea and Samaria is another measure that Europe has lined up against Israel. ‎A third one is the European Union’s funding of illegal building by the Palestinian Authority in Area C. As ‎late as last Wednesday, the European Union reached an agreement with the Palestinian Ministry of Local ‎Government, in which the EU agreed to provide 9.5 million euros ($10 million) in grants towards “social infrastructure ‎projects” in Area C. In plain English, this means more illegal building.‎

Celebrating dead Jews while inciting against the living, however, is not just a European pastime. “The ‎Holocaust was a colossal crime. … This year, we focus on ‘the Holocaust and Human Dignity.’ We link ‎Holocaust remembrance with the founding principles of the United Nations, as expressed in the United ‎Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As we do, we are reminded of our ‎shared obligation to assure everyone the right to live free from discrimination and with equal protection ‎under the law. Today, with a rising tide of antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and other forms of ‎discrimination, we must do even more to defend these rights for people everywhere,” UN Secretary ‎General Ban Ki-moon said on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.‎

Ban uttered there words the day after justifying and condoning terrorism against Jews in Israel in ‎a speech to the UN Security Council. “As oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it ‎is human nature to react to occupation.” The UN chief called Israeli settlement activities “an affront to ‎the Palestinian people and to the international community. … They rightly raise fundamental questions ‎about Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution.” ‎

It would be nice if the world would spare us its pompous and tasteless eulogies about our dead ancestors ‎and stop inciting our murder in the present.

Judith Bergman is a writer and political analyst living in Israel.

This article was originally published by Israel Hayom. 

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