As an international community, we are at a crossroads where our commitment to peace and democracy is only as strong as our integrity.
History will not be kind to brutish world leaders who seek to destroy order and justice and those who did not act to stop them.
This week, Spain Slovenia & Ireland (RTE) has urged the European Union (EU) to debate suspending its association agreement with Israel, saying the bloc can no longer remain “on the sidelines” as conditions worsen in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.
A ‘debate’ which the International Criminal of Justice (ICJ) and numerous humanitarians, NGOs and journalists have bare witnessed to calling for action on war crimes, apartheid (Source: Human Rights Watch) and international law violations.
Western democracies including the 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 defense of the defenseless 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’.
For months, Lebanon has been under bombardment, and we are witnesses to civilians bearing the brunt of this cruel and unjust war with our friends at JRS at the frontlines sheltering the displaced and accompanying families experiencing unimaginable pain and loss.
International law must not only be protected but demanded.
Last week, Pope Leo spoke on the responsibility of leaders:
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” he said in Bamenda at St Joseph’s Cathedral’s altar. “The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild.”
“Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilization and death,” he said. “They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.”
We all have a responsibility to stand up for what is right, for peace and development which can heal and strengthen communities – not destroy, exploit or profiteer.
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.
The EU can do what is right.
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.
Europe is facing a moral crisis where the right path is to stand in defence of human rights and to act against tyrants, especially those weaponizing religion and justifying violence.
“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth,” Pope Leo XIV.
Join us in calling for action on peace and justice
Demand the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in view of Israel’s violations of human rights by signing the European wide initiative.
Photo credit:
حسني صلاح||Hosny Salah. Young Boy Sitting in Makeshift Shelter in Gaza
Pope Leo XIV, Vatican media.