EJP

Kurdish delegation seeks ties with Israel

JERUSALEM—Knesset members from across the political spectrum came together Wednesday to strengthen relations between Israel and Kurdistan. In a session titled “Together for the sake of stability in the Middle East,” a delegation of the Brussels-based Kurdish European Society (KES) NGO that promotes the cohesion of the Kurdish diaspora and contributes to the democratic development of Kurdistan.

The session symbolically took place on the same date, November 29, that the UN General Assembly voted in favor of Resolution 181, which adopted the plan for the partition of Palestine and therefore the creation of a Jewish State.

“Seventy years ago we achieved what we dreamed of for many years. You are brave and I pray that just like the Jewish people who succeeded in fulfilling their aspirations, the Kurdish people will soon succeed,” said Zionist Union MK Hilik Bar.

“We have a great deal in common. Civil society can bridge our two people,” added Deputy Defense Minister MK Ben Dahan of the Jewish Home Party. “We have many tools to contribute to the Kurdish people and I am happy about the initiative,” he said.

The Kurdish delegation arrived in Israel on Monday for a three-day trip to meet with to meet representatives of Israeli civil society. The visit was organized by the International Legal Forum , a nonprofit legal hub that centralizes efforts of lawyers, organizations and activists around the world to promote justice, peace and equality in Israel and the Middle East.

“The challenge of the Kurdish people is very similar to the challenge of the Jewish people before the establishment of the State of Israel, and still today,” said Yifa Segal, the Director of the International Legal Forum. “Our societies have many common aspects, like the connections with the Diaspora and the development of economy and security when you are surrounded by enemies.

“We are already thinking about the next steps; anyone who has ideas how to strengthen the link between Israeli and Kurdish civil societies is welcome to contact us,” Segal said.

Representatives of the delegation said their aim is to learn from Israel how to build a democratic and independent state. Kahraman Evsen, President of KES, said the first step is to create links between Kurdish and Israeli civil society.

“I want to build relations with Israeli leaders and create the foundation for a strong connection between our people. Israel can teach us how to fight nepotism and corruption and what is needed to create an active civil society,” Evsen told Tazpit Press Service (TPS).

The delegation’s purpose, he added, is not only to build a foundation for strong relations between Israeli and Kurdish society but also to understand the mechanism that make the Jews of the Diaspora so united and supportive of the Jewish State.

“ The dialects of the Kurds are very different and the Turkish Kurds can hardly understand their Syrian and Iraqi brothers,” Evsen said. “Moreover the young generation of our Diaspora is more and more assimilated. I came here to learn how Ethiopians and Russian could understand each other, and how we can keep our culture and traditions in future generations.”

The delegation is also looking for more concrete assistance from Israel such as the creation of student exchange programs in medicine, agriculture and engineering.

“ We need the knowledge of Israel to build a sustainable country that does not rely only on oil,” said Yaser Raschid, a member of the delegation.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman have increasingly come out in support of an independent Kurdish state in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Israel “supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve a state of their own,” Netanyahu said in mid-September shortly before a Kurdish referendum on independence.

But Israel was the only country to support Kurdish independence and political reality on the ground is that an independent Kurdish state does not appear to be on the horizon.

“ Modern History teaches that a new state can be created only if one of the superpowers supports it. Without support from the United States or Russia, Kurds do not have any chance of declaring their own independent state,” Dr. Ofer Israeli, a Middle East expert at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) told TPS.

Dr. Israeli said the Kurds, just like the Zionists seventy years ago, should recruit other countries to support them

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