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Paris, 6 February 2013

In a letter to European Union High Representative, Baroness CatherineAshton of Upholland, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director forInternational Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, claimed that "despitecontinuous requests, for the last year, from the United Statesadministration and entreaties from the Middle East that the EuropeanUnion place Hezbollah on its terrorism list, on a par with Hamas - bothits political and military wings - the EU has vacillated, at one pointarguing that Hezbollah does not act on EU soil".

The letter noted that "the UN enquiry into the murder of the lateLebanese Prime Minister, Rafic Hariri in 2005, indicated conclusiveevidence of Hezbollah complicity, though the official report is stillpending". continuing, "now the Interior Minister of Bulgaria, TsvetanTsvetanov, has announced the official findings linking to Hezbollah, thefinancing and authorship of the attack on an Israeli tourist bus on July18, 2012 killing 6, including 1 Bulgarian citizen and wounding 32".

Samuels stressed " this atrocity happened in an EU member state.Every EU government is fully aware that Hezbollah is present acrossEurope, fund raising, recruiting, and preparing further attacks".

The letter argued "this was the situation in Latin America that, in1994, led to the Hezbollah bombing of the AMIA Jewish Centre in BuenosAires, leaving 85 dead and over 300 maimed - a situation of infiltrationthat is worsening across that continent as the presence there grows ofHezbollah's patron, Iran".

Samuels pointed to the irony that "the EU employs a regime of sanctionsagainst Tehran, and morally supports the victims of the Syrian genocide,perpetrated by the Assad regime which is maintained by Iran". Alsoemphasising that "while the EU supports the French campaign againstSalafist terrorism in Mali, while - until now - shielding the greatestthreat to Europe - Hezbollah".

The Centre recalled "that the late Simon Wiesenthal would say, 'whatbegins with the Jews never ends with them'!", declaring that "allEuropeans are at risk.  Christians, Jews and Muslims".

"We urge you to ban Hezbollah now.  Further vacillation will not grantimmunity, indeed it will damage the efforts of all those who fightterrorism worldwide.  We know from history, that appeasement has alwaysled to the abyss", concluded Samuels.