As stated in various Council Conclusions, in the context of the Middle East peace process the agreed EU position envisages an agreement on the borders of the two states (Israel and Palestine), based on the June 4 1967 lines with equivalent land swaps as may be agreed between the parties. The EU has stressed that it will not recognise any changes to these lines unless agreed by the parties. Though essentially corresponding to the 1949 Armistice Line as far as these concerns the division between Israel and the West Bank, the reference to 1967 has become more customarily used by the international community.Note how they are careful here not to refer to them as "borders" but as "lines" and how they understand that they correspond mostly to the 1949 Armistice Line, which was obviously never an international border.
So I wrote back to them asking them to correct their reports, both retroactively and going forward, since they seem to know that they are wrong. And I explained why this is critical:
I assume you can appreciate the importance of being accurate in this matter. It is not merely a question of semantics. The 1949 armistice lines were never accepted as borders for a reason, even in UN resolutions, and giving them more importance after the fact - pretending that they had the legal standing of borders - is serious indeed. It is nothing less than changing history to fit better with the EU's current position, and that is what is offensive about this repeated reference to "borders."
Their response, received today, is outrageous.
From the Deputy Head of Division – Israel, oPt, MEPP, from the European External Action Service:
I am sorry you did not feel we had properly answered your question. You ask if we will stop using the term “borders” in the context to which you refer. However, use of this term is language agreed by all EU member states in the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), most recently in the agreed FAC conclusions of December 2012 which I attach for ease of reference. Specifically, these stated in paragraph 4, “Recalling its parameters for the resumption of negotiations between the parties, as set out in previous Council Conclusions, including in December 2009, December 2010 and May 2011, the European Union reiterates that it will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties.” This text is an agreed position of the EU and we will therefore continue to use all the terms therein.Truth be damned! We all decided that they were borders, so they will continue to be called borders!
The EU is literally changing history in order to strengthen its political position, rather than changing its position to adhere to those pesky little things called facts. Their pathetic defense is that they all agreed to lie, therefore the lie is now the truth.
Maybe we should start calling the EU the "FU." After all, who cares what they claim now that they call themselves? I think they were called the "FU" since 1975! Facts are just tools to be manipulated to get what we want.
It is way past time for the Israeli government to step in and insist that any EU (FU) document that refers to imaginary borders is nothing more than fantasy, and that they will be pointedly treated as such..