…Since the beginning of the Oslo process, the European Union has been one of the major donors to the Palestinian National Authority (PA). The EU became one of the main supporters of a Palestinian state; since 1992, the European Union has set itself up as the protecting power of the Palestinians.

In this war – and it is a war against Israel that the PA is waging – the EU is far from being a neutral observer. Since the beginning of the 90s, the EU is trying to play a role in the region, based on the excellent relations that the Federal Republic of Germany and other countries maintain to most Arab countries.

Officially, the institutions of the European Union always declare that they are – well balanced – calling upon both sides to hold peace again. But in reading the resolutions, in following the policy of the EU, you know that this is not the case…

…She supports the efforts of Jewish organizations that fight anti-Semitism in Germany and Europe, but said that she can add a different perspective because she is not Jewish.

When a Jewish person calls something anti-Semitic, she noted, some Europeans discount it because it is coming from a Jew.

This kind of bias is not uncommon among Europeans, said Schroeder, and she has been fighting it ever since she decided that it was essential to speak out about the E.U.’s support of the Palestinian Authority.

Elected to the E.U. Parliament as a member of the German Green Party in 1999 (she later left the party to become an independent, but still allies with the left), Schroeder said she came to the body without a particularly strong view on the Middle East.

The Sept. 11 attacks changed that, she said, making her realize how widespread anti-American and anti-Semitic attitudes were in the E.U. countries.

She saw the attacks not only as directed against the U.S., but against Jews as well, since al-Qaeda was attacking what it sees as the hallmarks of Jewish influence — Wall Street and the U.S. government. But many Europeans reacted to Sept. 11 not with outrage, but with cries of “These people are poor, we have to understand them.”

It was then she realized that she had to become an activist…