"I mentioned the neutrality, twice compromised, of Belgium, but today neutrality is no longer an option," French President François Hollande said in a strongly worded statement that deviated from his planned speech. "How can we stay neutral when a people, not far from Europe, is fighting for its rights and territorial integrity? How to stay neutral when a civilian aircraft can be shot out of the sky? When there are civilian populations being massacred in Iraq, minorities being persecuted in Syria?"
He referred to the current situation in the Middle East, where the death toll in Gaza rose to 1,835 by Monday morning, according to the territory's Health Ministry.
"When in Gaza a murderous conflict has been going on for over a month…we cannot stay neutral, we have an obligation to act," he said. "Europe has to take its responsibility to act, along with the U.N. We cannot simply invoke a cult of memory, we have to take our responsibilities."
100 Yrs. Ago Today in Euro-History:
On Aug. 2, 1914, Germany gave an ultimatum to Belgium to allow its troops to pass peacefully through the country to reach France. King Albert I declined, so the German Empire invaded on Aug. 4, prompting the declaration of war by the U.K. The first Belgian casualty was cavalryman Albert Fonck, killed 12 miles from Liège that morning.
The city—which was fortified, but needed reinforcement—was unable to resist heavy shelling and held out for two days. This gave other countries time to mobilize, and the British press at the time spoke of "brave little Belgium." It was a harbinger of the carnage to come: On Aug. 22, 1914, 70,000 combatants were killed in one day. Liège was the first ever non-French city to be awarded France's Légion d'Honneur, its highest honor.
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| A sea of red ceramic poppies which form part of an art installation to commemorate World War I is seen in the dry moat of the Tower of London in London, Monday, Aug. 4, 2014. The installation by ceramic artist Paul Cummins, entitled "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red," will be unveiled on August 5 to mark the centenary of World War I, with the final one to be planted on Armistice Day on November 11. Each of the 888,246 poppies represents a British military fatality from World War I. (AP Photo/Rob Taggart) |
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