EU on Hannibal video: Saying we support terror is ‘unacceptable’

By TOVAH LAZAROFF
Updated: MARCH 1, 2016 03:18
EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen's face is muzzled in video of right-wing group. (photo credit: screenshot)
EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen's face is muzzled in video of right-wing group.
(photo credit: screenshot)
The European Union on Monday slammed as “appalling” a video that depicted EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen as a cannibal.
“Resorting to personal threats and slander can never be justified despite differences of opinion,” the European Union said. “To raise allegations of the EU supporting terror is unacceptable.”
It issued a statement in response to a video by the settler group Jerusalem’s Periphery Forum, which represents the communities outside of Jerusalem, particularly those along Route 1 leading to Route 90.
It has been on a campaign to stop the EU from funding illegal the construction of modular structures for Beduin and Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, particularly along the Route 1 corridor.
In a 30-second video on its Facebook page, it held Faaborg-Andersen accountable for the illegal construction and asked that he be muzzled. The last shot of the video showed him wearing serial killer/cannibal Hannibal Lecter’s muzzle from the horror movie The Silence of the Lambs.
Israel is trying to have the video removed from Facebook, an official told The Jerusalem Post.
In addition, the official said, a senior member of the Foreign Ministry spoke to the EU ambassador, apologized and “explained our dismay at the offensive video.”
The issue was also raised in Brussels at a regularly scheduled meeting between EU officials and Israeli Ambassador David Walzer.
The EU said, “we appreciate that the Israeli government has quickly condemned the video and we trust that the Israeli authorities will take appropriate action.”
It explained that it considered its funding for the structures to be humanitarian aid and therefore permissible under Israeli law.
“The EU provides humanitarian assistance to communities in need in the West Bank in accordance with the humanitarian imperative. This includes providing shelter to otherwise homeless people.
“According to its obligations under international humanitarian law it is actually Israel’s own responsibility as the occupying power to cater to the basic needs of the population in question,” it said. “Failing that Israel has the duty to agree to and facilitate international relief schemes and grant unimpeded access for humanitarian systems.”
Jerusalem’s Periphery Forum spokesman Arik Ben Shimon said it believed its portrayal of Faaborg-Andersen was particularly accurate given his total disregard for Israeli law.
“I’m trying to imagine what the EU’s reaction would be if Israel illegally constructed shelters for refugees within its borders under the explanation that it was offering humanitarian assistance,” he said.