This is how Europe betrayed itself for Israel policy

“The law is explained to friends and is applied to enemies,” said Italian statesman Giovanni Juliti once.

One of the most prominent examples of this principle is what appears in the intense negligence of the European Union and its clear condolences for the grave violations committed by Israel against international law and the terms of the partnership agreement signed between it and the union, as the bloc makes the most able to circumvent any serious confrontation with these violations.

On May 20, the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council voted to conduct a review to find out whether Israel violates human rights to the Palestinians by preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

A month later, the council concluded the same that “there are indications that Israel may be in violation of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the partnership agreement between the European Union and Israel.” Only indicators!

On June 26, European Union governments leaders announced during the European Council meeting that they “took a flag” with these indicators, and called on the Foreign Affairs Council to “continue the discussions” on them in July.

It is understood that some observers initially welcomed the vote to review the partnership agreement between the European Union and Israel in May. It is natural for people to adhere to any glimmer of hope indicating the possibility of taking steps to protect human rights for the Palestinian people.

Unfortunately, the entire “discussion” about the partnership agreement is nothing but deception. It does not represent any serious move from the European Union to address the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories. Rather, it aims to distort the increasing criticism by giving the impression that the Union may have begun to think about taking action.

More importantly, it distracts from the legal obligations imposed by international law and agreements on the European Union and its member state.

Human rights excuses

After 20 months of the destroyed Israeli war on Gaza, Israel’s violations of human rights and international law became very clear, and its connection to the partnership agreement cannot be denied.

Violations have reached a tremendous limit that requires classification in different categories to cover the size and depth of the destruction that caused life in Gaza.

Israel was accused of deliberately creating circumstances that eliminate the possibility of Palestinian life in the Strip, which is a genocide. This includes:

  • Domicide: Domicide: The destruction of the entire urban scene in Gaza.
  • MEDICIDE: a systematic dismantling of the healthcare system.
  • Scholachide: The destruction of schools, universities and libraries.
  • Ecocide: Eliminating agriculture and nature in Gaza.
  • Economy Destruction: Destruction of the Gazans.
  • Childing: Make childhood impossible.

More than 90 % of the population of Gaza, about 1.9 million people, were displaced. Only during the past three months, more than 600,000 people have been displaced again, some of them more than ten times.

Israel has imposed a complete siege on the Strip since March 2, and the receipt of few aid has been resumed until late in May. Familiarization: 66 children died due to hunger, and more than 5,000 children were hospitalized due to acute malnutrition in May alone.

A conversation without an act

Under the pressure of European public opinion, which has increasingly rejected Europe’s support for Israel, the Union has recently decided to do something. But this thing has so far been limited to talking, without any executive steps.

The bloc voted to review the partnership agreement, but this is not exceptional because all partnership agreements are reviewed periodically, which may lead to strengthening or reducing relations.

Indeed, those who called for voting knew very well that the suspension of the agreement required a unanimous vote from all 27 member states, which is currently impossible.

European Commission President Ursula von der Line and countries such as Germany, Italy and Hungary have expressed her steadfast support for Israel. Under these circumstances, hope for the suspension of the agreement unanimously is a kind of illusion. Voting may allow a majority to suspend some aspects of the agreement related to trade, but this is the most expected.

This is no longer a serious confirmation of the Federation’s commitment to human rights and “basic values”. Rather, public martyrdom by governments and officials in Article 2 of the agreement, which states that all areas of cooperation “must be based on respecting human rights”, is only an empty discourse.

In fact, the European Union’s intention has never been taken seriously. It is easy to note that he did not specify how to assess human rights, and did not make these assessments periodic, mandatory or public.

In this way, the union leaves itself enough to claim its adherence to “human rights and basic values”, while in fact “interpreting” its rules to evade any meaningful action.

Foolish slogans

Some European countries decided to take individual measures, but what they have done is no less empty than reviewing the agreement.

The UK has suspended trade talks with Israel, but it did not suspend the same trade. And its recent joint statement with France and Canada promoted to him as “more” than the positions of the European Union, but it opposes only “the expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza”, that is, it objects to escalation and expansion, not what happened until now.

This statement also did not mention the war crimes that Israel accused, and did not pledge to implement the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant.

Indeed, the United Kingdom, despite the summons of the Israeli ambassador after the “firm” statement, continued to fly the spy aircraft above or near the Gaza airspace, which are suspected of collecting intelligence information in favor of the Israeli army.

As for France, it announced its intention to recognize a Palestinian state in June. June came and went without recognition.

In October 2023, Spain claimed that it had stopped selling weapons to Israel. In May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said: “We are not dealing commercially with a country that commits genocide,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. However, Barcelona’s research center recently revealed that there are more than 40 contracts between Spanish government institutions and Israeli defense companies.

Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy also continue to provide Israel with weapons, in violation of the spirit of international law.

Legal obligations

If European governments were serious in responding to Israeli crimes, it would have been simply by carrying out their legal obligations under European treaties and international law.

The European Union Charter for Basic Rights and Lisbon Treaty imposes on the bloc to integrate respect for “democracy, human rights and basic values” in all its policies. For this reason, all partnership agreements provide for human rights conditions.

The genocide agreement also obliges states to use “all reasonable means available” to prevent genocide. In January 2024, the International Court of Justice acknowledged that the right of the Palestinians to protection from genocide may be violated.

Among the measures that the Union countries can take:

  • Stop weapons contracts with Israeli government and companies.
  • Consideration of intelligence.
  • Cutting trade, cultural and research exchange with Israeli public and private institutions in the occupied territories.
  • Supporting the strict application of international law, including supporting the case against Israel in the International Court of Justice, and implementing arrest orders issued by the International Criminal Court.

Scandalous

Currently, the European Union is in a scandalous violation of its legal duties and the rules he set himself. It is a direct result of decades of ignoring the grave violations by Israel.

None of the “interpretation” of the law or invoke formal measures can hide the fact that the union violates its legal obligations and the spirit of its rules. He has a long record of turning a blind eye to human rights violations in partner countries. This record has reached its humiliating climax since October 2023.

The failure of Gaza reveals the limits of Europe’s commitment to its declared values: its sacrifice in Palestine, Europe betrays itself.

The opinions in the article do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al -Jazeera.

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