Monday is when EU should say 'no' to Israel’s genocide, occupation and apartheid

Across Europe people are demanding an end to the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. For 16 months people have taken to the streets, activated trade unions, signed letters and petitions, supported fundraisers and built university encampments to demand justice for victims of genocide and war crimes and for the decades of Israel’s brutal occupation and apartheid against Palestinians to finally come to an end.  

But there is a disconnect between the conversations happening in our homes, workplaces and schools and those happening in the EU’s halls of power.

And this rift is at risk of getting wider. 

On Monday (24 February), EU foreign ministers are hosting Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, in Brussels for the EU-Israel Association Council.

For the first time in the EU’s history, ministers will welcome the representative of a state whose prime minister and former defence minister are subject to International Criminal Court arrest warrants. 

Under the EU-Israel Association agreement, Israel enjoys certain privileges to the EU market when it comes to trade and economic cooperation, as well as EU funds for research and development, education and culture.  

The meeting to discuss this privileged partnership is happening while the EU is facing a key moment in its history.

Mass deportation from Gaza

With the world order being shaken up, respect for international law crumbling and a new US president calling for mass deportation of Palestinians in Gaza, European leaders face a clear choice: will they let themselves and self-proclaimed European values be waltzed over, or will they finally take up the banner of human rights, international law and the rules-based international order? 

Everything the EU and its member states claim to stand for — be it economic prosperity, common security or respect for human rights — today requires a clear and bold stance. Amidst the chaos on the world stage, there lies an opportunity for EU countries to help lead the way — to reinvent multilateral cooperation based on values that benefit the global common interest. This opportunity should be seized on every front. 

The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Israel is one of the important issues on which the EU could make a difference.

The world has witnessed how Israel has committed and continues to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, doing so in a context of decades of illegal occupation and apartheid. Those gross human rights violations have been extensively documented by Amnesty International and many others.  

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take interim measures over a year ago because of the risk of genocide in Gaza. These orders were blatantly ignored. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, among others, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The United Nations General Assembly, following an advisory opinion by the ICJ finding that Israel’s presence in the OPT is unlawful, overwhelmingly demanded an end to Israel illegal occupation of the OPT. The situation is painfully clear and has not been fundamentally changed by the current provisional and fragile ceasefire.  

In the face of shocking proposals to forcibly deport Palestinians from Gaza and with the staggering and ongoing impunity for the crimes committed, the EU must finally step up — and do what is needed to help end the genocide in Gaza and dismantle Israel’s system of apartheid.    

EU ministers will sit down with a government of a country that commits genocide, persistently violates international law and subjects Palestinians to apartheid

EU member states must immediately halt arms transfers to Israel, ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements and ensure justice and accountability for genocide and other crimes under international law. 

These actions would help lead the international community away from the yawning abyss of atrocities, impunity and lawlessness.  

Monday's EU-Israel Association Council is an opportunity to finally change course.

EU ministers will sit down with a government of a country that commits genocide, persistently violates international law and subjects Palestinians to apartheid.

The association agreement is a good lever to apply pressure, hold Israel accountable and to force change. Indeed, the association agreement itself stipulates in its second article that cooperation must be based on respect for human rights.

The EU must demand effective measures by Israel to improve human rights, including respecting the ceasefire in Gaza, ending the blockade of Gaza, ending the occupation of the OPT, and dismantling its system of oppression and domination over Palestinians. 

That is the message EU leaders should bring to the table at the EU-Israel summit. By doing so, they would show real leadership, the kind that people in Europe are demanding. 

No more trade with and investments in illegal Israeli settlements. No more arms to Israel. No more support for apartheid. Not in our name.  

This is not a time for self-proclaimed or self-inflicted European powerlessness or wavering, but one where tools and leverage that allow the EU block to make a real difference must be grasped and confidently wielded. The association agreement with Israel is one such tool to make a difference for the countless victims of human rights violations in Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. EU leaders have a historic, legal and moral duty to use it.