On World Humanitarian Day, it is hard to reflect on the state of our world today as we witness hardships, atrocities and injustices inflicted on marginalised communities across the globe.
Today, nearly 20,000 children have been murdered in Gaza, 270 journalists and 408 humanitarian workers have been killed, some deaths uncovered from mass graves (The Guardian, 2025; UN News, 2025) – all of which should have shocked and mobilised world leaders to do what is right.
For 2 years, Israel has continued to act with both impunity and cruelty and on our television screens, our smartphones and in the headlines, we have been witnesses to genocide, continued illegal occupation of Gaza and the West Bank and a violent oppression which has murdered more women and children than any other recent conflict in a single year.
Western democracies including the European Union (EU) continue to watch their ally and trading partner commit war crimes – there is no line Israel hasn’t crossed and by failing to take tangible and real action in defence of the defenceless should bring immeasurable shame.
What we are in witnessing in Palestine is violence and oppression that the EU is complicit in, as member states embolden, whether directly or indirectly, Israel’s continued blockage on aid and attacks on hospitals, schools and even declared humanitarian ‘safe-zones’.
In a previous blog post (read that here) I spoke about the EU’s failure to call out Israel’s disproportionate attacks on Gaza and uphold the very principles it was founded on.
Europe is Israel’s largest trading partner and Israel benefits from its privileged access to European markets under the EU-Israel Association Agreement (1995). Additionally, The 2004 European Neighbourhood Policy of which Israel is a beneficiary offers opportunities for more enterprise/market opportunities – all of this means the EU has significant leverage on Israel to stop its onslaught on the Palestinian people.
Fundamental to these agreements and policies is the rightful declaration that the EU should not implicate itself in any actions that breach international humanitarian law and must also ensure that the benefits of co-operation are used in the proper spirit of this law.
The EU’s failure to even follow its own policy in the face of such human rights violations makes for loud silence.
We as a global community must put humanity before profit and it is time all of us stand in solidarity to do what is right.
“To act as if everything depends on you, trust as if everything depends on God”
If we are a country which stands to protect human rights and uphold international law – sanctions and tangible action must be made, as we had done before in reaction to apartheid in South Africa.
Again, we plead with the government to be on the right side of history:
- We call on the government to advocate for an immediate ceasefire and entry of aid.
- We call on the government to fully enact the Occupied Territories Bill
- We call on the government to stop the movement of ammunitions through Shannon.
- We call on the government to stop the selling of ‘war bonds’ by the Irish Central Bank.
- We call on the government to lead the way in holding the EU to account on its own legal obligations and to end its hypocrisy in the face of genocide.
To our readers and supporters we ask that you contact your local TDs for #WorldHumanitarianDay in honour of aid workers and to stand in solidarity with oppressed people to call our government to put words into action.
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