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Isi Leibler Isi Leibler Mailing List February 16, 2010
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	Inappropriate behavior by former Foreign Ministry Director General  at UN sponsored anti-Israel conference by Isi Leibler February 16, 2010 http://wordfromjerusalem.com/?p=2077 In response to my last column titled  Confronting Jews who defame Jews, one of my  readers sent me official United Nations summaries  of a conference held this month in Malta "in support  of Israeli-Palestinian peace" under the joint auspices  of the UN created "Committee on the Exercise of  the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People" and the  "Parliamentary Assembly of  the Mediterranean". Israel understandably decided not to participate officially. In Israel's absence, Hebrew University lecturer, Alon Liel, was the sole Israeli  participant. Liel who was in the news last year as an apologist for Syria's Assad, was  for a short period in 2000 Director General of the Foreign Ministry under  Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He was also a former Ambassador to South Africa. As a former Director General of the Foreign Ministry, I consider Liel's remarks  at this conference to be unconscionable especially having regard to the fact that the  gathering comprised almost exclusively of representatives utterly hostile to Israel. Here are a few choice extracts from the UN official release of Liel's contribution to the  debate. Mr. Liel said that everything Mr. Erakat said was true.  It looked like the Palestinians  had nothing and the Israelis had everything, but Israelis knew they were doomed, too,  and dependent on the fate of the Palestinians, he said, adding, "If you will have nothing in  the future, we will also have nothing in the future."  But at the moment, Israelis did not  have that feeling, and they were overconfident.... "We don't have a Mandela in Israel; we have a Netanyahu and a Lieberman," and  unless something dramatic happened, things would not work, he lamented. As for the situation on the ground, Liel said it was unacceptable, both in Gaza and the  West Bank.  In fact, it was immoral and would only lead to more violence.  At the same  time, for Israel, the creation of one State with Palestinians - where they had voting rights  and so forth - was an even bigger nightmare than the two-state solution.  So he proffered  to the conference that perhaps the Palestinians should propose that to the Israeli  leadership today, adding: "They'll start shivering, I'm telling you." Not surprisingly, the PLO representative, Saeb Erakat praised Liel's comments  as "transparent and honest" and "reflecting the facts as they are". A representative  of parliamentarians of Western Europe also commended Liel's "bleak picture of  Foreign Minister Lieberman and Israeli intransigence". Liel's remarks compared to some of the more obscene outbursts by Israeli demonizers of  Zion may appear relatively tame. But what makes this outrageous, is the fact that Liel  was a former Director General of the Foreign Ministry and the only Israeli present amongst  a gathering dominated by the Arab League and comprising exclusively of  representatives hostile to Israel. On a more positive note, I have just been informed that a group of members of  the Board of Governors of the Tel Aviv University, including major donors,  have threatened to withdraw their support and publicly lambast the  university administration unless action is taken to bring an end  to the exploitation of academic freedom by Tel Aviv university academics  calling for the boycott and delegitimization of Israel. ileibler@netvision.net.il