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Why Is This Occupation Different From All Other Occupations?

(Times of Israel) Raphael Ahren - A new fishing deal signed between the European Union and Morocco applies beyond Morocco's internationally recognized borders, taking in the territory of Western Sahara, which Morocco invaded in 1975 and has occupied ever since. Prof. Eugene Kontorovich of Northwestern University and Israeli ex-ambassador to Canada Alan Baker wrote to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton last month, challenging her to explain why the agreement, which doesn't exclude Morocco's occupied territory, doesn't show that the body holds Israel to a double standard. The EU insists that any agreement with Israel must explicitly exclude settlements in the "occupied" West Bank, so why don't the same constraints apply in the case of Morocco? Last week, the EU responded to the letter, saying, essentially, that Israel's occupation is different, but we're not telling you how and why. The EU maintains that Israel's presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is unique, legally speaking, but refuses to explain exactly how it differs from, say, Turkey's occupation of Northern Cyprus, or the Moroccan presence in Western Sahara where Rabat asserts ownership of the territory but not a single other country recognizes the claim.
2013-12-25 00:00:00
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