By sacrificing Palestine, Europe betrays itself

“Law is interpreted for friends and applied to enemies,” Italian statesman Giovanni Giolitti erstwhile said.

There are fewer amended examples of this than the mode the European Union bends implicit backwards to debar addressing Israel’s terrible breaches of planetary instrumentality and the presumption of its relation statement with the bloc.

On May 20, the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) voted to behaviour a reappraisal of whether Israel was denying Palestinians’ quality rights by preventing humanitarian assistance from entering Gaza.

A period later, the aforesaid assemblage concluded: “There are indications that Israel would beryllium successful breach of its quality rights obligations nether Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.” Indications …

On June 26, EU heads of authorities astatine a European Council meeting concluded that they “noted” those indications and invited the FAC to “continue discussions” successful July.

It is understandable that immoderate initially welcomed the ballot to reappraisal the EU-Israel Association Agreement backmost successful May. It is lone quality to clasp connected to thing that gives anticipation that enactment volition yet beryllium taken to support the quality rights of the Palestinian people.

Unfortunately, the full “debate” implicit the EU-Israel Association Agreement is simply a sham. It does not correspond superior enactment connected by the EU to code the atrocities Israel is committing successful Gaza and elsewhere successful the occupied Palestinian territory. It deflects increasing disapproval by giving the content that the EU whitethorn yet beryllium reasoning of doing something. More importantly, it distracts from the obligations which the EU and its members are legally bound to fulfil.

Human rights pretences

Twenty months into Israel’s devastating warfare successful Gaza, Israel’s breaches of quality rights and planetary instrumentality are truthful extended that determination tin beryllium nary uncertainty astir their relevance to the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

They are truthful galore that they indispensable beryllium organised into categories to seizure the extent and breadth of demolition wrought onto every aspect of beingness successful Gaza.

Israel has been accused of intentionally creating conditions calculated to destruct the anticipation for Palestinian beingness successful the Strip, which amounts to genocide. This includes domicide and the laying to discarded of Gaza’s municipality landscape; medicide – systematically dismantling the healthcare system; scholasticide – destroying schools, universities and libraries; ecocide – wiping retired Gaza’s agriculture and nature; econocide – the devastation of Gaza’s economy; and unchilding – making puerility impossible.

More than 90 percent of Gaza’s population, oregon 1.9 cardinal people, person been displaced, and successful the past 3 months alone, implicit 600,000 radical person been displaced again, arsenic galore as 10 times oregon more. A afloat blockade was imposed by the Israelis since March 2, and meagre assistance deliveries were reinstated lone successful precocious May. Famine is widespread; 66 children person died of starvation, and much than 5,000 were hospitalised with acute malnutrition successful May alone.

Under unit from European nationalist opinion, which is progressively rejecting European enactment for Israel, the EU yet decided to bash something. But that thing progressive a just spot of talking and – truthful acold – nary action.

The bloc decided to ballot connected reviewing the EU-Israel Association Agreement. But this was thing retired of the mean due to the fact that each relation agreements should beryllium taxable to regular reviews, which tin trigger either advances oregon scaling back the extent and breadth of relations.

In fact, those who called for the ballot knew precise good that suspension of the statement requires a unanimous ballot by 27 subordinate states, which is presently impossible. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and subordinate states, specified arsenic Germany, Italy and Hungary, person made crystal wide their unwavering enactment for Israel. In these circumstances, hoping for a unanimous ballot to suspend the statement is adjacent to delusional. A qualified bulk ballot mightiness suspend parts of the statement connected trade, but that is the astir 1 tin anticipation for.

This is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Union’s committedness to quality rights and “fundamental values”. Instead, nationalist invocations by governments and officials of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which states that each areas covered by the statement itself “shall beryllium based connected respect for quality rights”, are nary much than bare rhetoric.

In reality, the EU ne'er intended for these quality rights conditionalities to beryllium taken seriously. It is casual to spot why; it ne'er specified by what criteria quality rights should beryllium assessed, and it chose not to marque these assessments routine, compulsory, and public.

In this way, the EU leaves itself capable abstraction to assertion it values “human rights and cardinal values” while, successful fact, “interpreting away” its ain rules to debar having to instrumentality immoderate important action.

Empty rhetoric

Some European states person decided to instrumentality idiosyncratic action, but what they person done has been conscionable arsenic meaningless arsenic the EU statement review.

The United Kingdom suspended commercialized talks with Israel, but not trade. Its recent communique alongside France and Canada was trumpeted arsenic “tougher” than the EU’s statements. Yet, the communique opposes lone Israel’s “expansion of subject operations successful Gaza”: It takes contented lone with the hold and intensification of Israel’s assault, not with the devastation wrought upon the Strip truthful far.

Nor does it notation the warfare crimes Israel has been accused of, oregon state a committedness to uphold the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) apprehension warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and erstwhile Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

In fact, contempt the UK summoning Israel’s ambassador aft its “tough” associated connection with France and Canada, it continued its surveillance flights over oregon adjacent to Gaza’s airspace, which are suspected of gathering quality for the Israeli army.

France, for its part, declared it would recognise a Palestinian authorities successful June. June came and went without recognition.

In October 2023, Spain claimed that it stopped selling weapons to Israel. In May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared, “We bash not bash concern with a genocidal state.” And yet, a Barcelona-based deliberation vessel revealed precocious the beingness of much than 40 contracts between Spanish authorities institutions and Israeli defence companies.

Germany, France, the UK and Italy besides proceed to supply weapons successful breach of the tone of planetary law.

Legal obligations

If European governments were serious astir responding to Israel’s crimes, they could bash that by simply abiding by their ineligible obligations nether the assorted EU treaties and planetary law.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Lisbon Treaty necessitate the bloc to embed respect for “democracy, quality rights and cardinal values” into each EU policies. This is wherefore each relation agreements person quality rights conditionalities successful the archetypal place.

The Genocide Convention imposes a preventive work to usage “all means reasonably available” to forestall genocide. Already successful January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accepted that Palestinians’ close to beryllium protected from genocide whitethorn beryllium being violated.

The actions EU states tin instrumentality include, but are not constricted to: halting arms contracts with the Israeli authorities and Israeli companies; suspending quality cooperation; and cutting commercial, taste and probe exchanges with and backing for Israeli backstage and nationalist institutions connected occupied Palestinian land. They should besides enactment the rigorous exertion of planetary law, including backing the lawsuit against Israel astatine the ICJ and enforcing apprehension warrants issued by the ICC.

Currently, the EU is successful flagrant usurpation of its ineligible duties and its ain rules. That is simply a nonstop effect of decades of ignoring gross abuses by Israel and different associated states, including Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt.

No magnitude of “interpreting” instrumentality oregon hiding down process tin disguise the information that the EU is successful flagrant usurpation of its ineligible obligations and the tone of its ain rules. It has a way grounds of ignoring continued quality rights abuses successful associated states, including Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Jordan. This way grounds has reached an ignominious highest since October 2023.

Inaction connected Gaza reveals the limits of Europe’s committedness to its self-proclaimed values: by sacrificing Palestine, Europe betrays itself.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.