Posted 9/08/2003 08:36:00 AM by Ocean Guy
EUnuchs declare Hamas "Terror Organization"

What's really changed though? Does it signal a tougher stance on terror by the EU? Will it change the way Hamas operates? Can we expect less resistance from the EUnuchs in the War on Terror?

I'm a pessimist on this one. I don't think anything has really changed. One weak pronouncement, which is a decade overdue, doesn't show me any shift in European attitudes on terror. Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is more hopeful.

Shalom said Israel always felt the EU did not relate to terrorism the same way Israel did, and that Europe's condemnations of terror acts were often laconic and unsatisfying. The feeling, Shalom said, was that Europe viewed suicide bombers as a phenomenon that occurred because of Israel's "so-called occupation" or the perceived persecution of the Palestinians.

Shalom said the mega-terror attacks in New York and Washington, and the European fear that it could happen there as well, led to a dramatic change in Europe's attitude toward terrorism.

"Now there is a feeling that we are on the same field fighting the wave of terror," |Shalom said.

It's been almost two years since 9-11-2001. In those two years, I've seen little in the EUnuchs' response to terror that leads me to believe there has been any change, let alone "dramatic change" in their attitude on terrorism. Maybe I'm looking too much at Old Europe for change.