Israel Ignored at Obama’s Counterterror Initiative

From: CNSNews.com

As the Obama administration’s new international counterterrorism initiative develops, the exclusion of Israel becomes more glaring with each passing meeting -- most recently on Monday, at the beginning of a conference focusing on victims of terrorism.

Addressing the two-day Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) event in Madrid, an administration official mentioned a dozen countries in the context of victims of terrorism – but not Israel.

Launched last fall as a “signature initiative” in what the administration calls its “smart power approach to counterterrorism,” the GCTF comprises 29 countries, with the U.S. and Turkey serving as co-chairs.

Israel’s exclusion provoked comment from the outset, given the country’s long experience both as a target of and fighter against terrorism.

The State Department says future Israeli participation is not ruled out. Still, Turkey’s Islamist-leaning government – which disputes that Hamas is a terrorist group – has worked actively to isolate Israel in the international community.

Further, 11 of the 29 GCTF members are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), some of which are hostile towards Israel. All subscribe to the OIC’s 1999 Convention on Combating Terrorism which states that “armed struggle against foreign occupation, aggression, colonialism, and hegemony, aimed at liberation and self-determination in accordance with the principles of international law shall not be considered a terrorist crime.”

According to the State Department, Monday’s opening of the GCTF “High-Level Conference on Victims of Terrorism” in the Spanish capital  “brings together government officials, civil society leaders and other stakeholders to discuss how countries can increase their support of victims of terror while cooperating to counter extremist ideologies.”

Addressing the event, U.S. undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights Maria Otero noted that Spain, “like the United States and so many countries around the world,” has had firsthand experienced of terrorism and the pain it inflicts on society. Later, she referred to a documentary that was shown at the GCTF launch last September, recounting the stories of the victims of terror attacks in Pakistan, Jordan, Northern Ireland, Uganda, Turkey, Indonesia, India, Spain, Columbia and the United States.
Similarly, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed a GCTF event in Istanbul last month, she mentioned the challenge of terrorism in Turkey, Mali, Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, the Maghreb and Europe, referred obliquely to Pakistan and Afghanistan, and commented on terrorist kidnappings in Latin America and the Sahel.

Israel was not mentioned, either by Otero in Madrid on Monday or by Clinton in Istanbul on June 7.