Palestinians need action fast

It started poorly on Tuesday, with Kaja Kallas, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission (HRVP), claiming Europe had “applied the political leverage we have” over Israel in a parliamentary debate in Strasbourg.

Rolling her eyes at MEP Manon Aubry, the HRVP claimed that [the] “people of Europe don’t know how Europe functions”, expressed her belief that we couldn’t blame inaction on one person, and stated her awareness that Europe has not done enough to help those in Gaza and the West Bank. All this less than a week after being publicly rebuked by China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun for comments labelled as “irresponsible”.

While listening to President von der Leyen speaking on Wednesday at the State of the European Union address, the HRVP may have received a long-awaited reprieve, as efforts to block the impasse for European action in Gaza were announced.

Concretely, the Commission has committed to:

• Putting bilateral support to Israel on hold, including stopping payments (though this does not apply to civil society or Yad Vashem)
• Proposing sanctions on the extremist ministers and on violent settlers
• Proposing a partial suspension of the Association Agreement on trade-related matters
• Setting up a Palestine Donor Group next month – including a dedicated instrument for Gaza reconstruction

While it is commendable that the Commission has begun to act, it would be an act of complete dissonance to claim this is proportionate, well-timed or sufficient.

A groundswell of public support for action, including over 120,000 people taking to the streets in Brussels last weekend, are what have driven the college to action. Previous statements, including that of the HRVP that there has been “positive developments” recently, have shown a college disconnected from citizens, humanitarian workers and genocide scholars.

Over 700 days after the onset of the attacks, and with a civilian death rate of 83%, Palestinians cannot accept more institutional disagreements suspending critical actions.

Echoing our previous calls, the EU needs to act as an impartial mediator in the conflict and ensure that human rights and international law are respected, if it hopes to regain global credibility. We must secure a ceasefire, support the work of UNRWA and continue work towards regional peace and stability.

We have in no way shape or form applied all of the political leverage we have.

We need a full suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement, sanctions not only on ministers but on all those enacting genocide, and a sea change in the attitude towards one of the most despicable acts in human history from European leaders.

While we welcome some movement, these measures must be enacted with speed in order to have an impact.

As MEP Iratxe García Pérez stated succinctly in her response to the SOTEU address, “if Gaza dies, the soul of Europe dies with Gaza”.