Urging EU to act: Israeli Human Rights violations in Palestine
European Union
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As we have been witnessing the violent actions perpetrated by the Israeli Settlers and Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank (mainly in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah) and Gaza, we as European Union citizens and residents are frustrated and deeply concerned about the inaction of our institutions and leaders.
Though the High Representative of the European Union External Service has condemned the ongoing activities, the EU has yet to take concrete action against Israel in accordance with its human rights obligations.
Although the numbers are changing hourly, the Gaza Minister of Health states that since the beginning of Israel's military offensive on May 10th, the overall death toll stands at least at 83, including 17 children and 7 women, and over 450 Palestinians have been injured in the enclave (1). Likewise, according to Reuters (2), in Jerusalem, more than 300 protesters have been injured in the last weeks. Equally, in the last few days 51 people were hospitalised in Jerusalem, 20 in Hebron, seven in Nablus, and five in Tul Karm. Since the beginning of the hostilities, more than 1000 protesters have been wounded in Gaza and the West Bank and nearly 90 people lost their lives(3).
In the coming days the attacks against Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank are expected to continue, as in the last few days the Israeli PM has already announced that Israel will continue with the military offensives and the military are in "various stages of preparing ground operations" (4). As of May 13th, the IDF is in the process of approving the Gaza ground invasion.
Last month, HRW concluded that the State of Israel and its authorities have been committing crimes against humanity, namely apartheid and persecution (5).
Please join us in our call for action, to urge our EU leaders and representatives to take immediate action to ensure that the Association Agreement is not merely conditional on respect for human rights in theory, but also in practice.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/israel-palestine-sheikh-jarrah-jerusalem-update
https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution
Petition by
To:
European Union
From:
[Your Name]
As citizens and residents of Europe, we call upon the European Union (EU) authorities to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement until Israel ends its apartheid(1) and persecuting regime and abides by its obligations under international law.
The EU-Israel Association Agreement (2000)(2) is conditional upon a respect for human rights and democratic principles. Indeed, Article 2 of the Agreement provides the following: “Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this Agreement.”
European leaders have condemned the indiscriminate killing of civilians in the Gaza Strip and the settlements and associated activity on the West Bank, yet Israel would not be able to carry out its brutal mass killings and maintain its repressive regime without the support of the EU and the United States(2).
While the European Council has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia for its role in the Ukraine conflict(3), Israel is being rewarded for its mass killings with favourable trade relations. This directly opposes the democratic and liberal values the EU claims to represent in its internal and external policies.
The EU must demonstrate respect for human rights and act now to stop Israel's brutal and unjustified assault upon and occupation of the Palestinian people. We call upon you, the elected representatives and commissioners of the European Union, to immediately suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Israel must be made to respect its obligations under international law, which ultimately includes an end to the illegal occupation and a recognition of the right to self-determination of the people of Palestine.
EU Citizens for Palestine
Who are we?
The EU Citizens for Palestine are a coalition of Human Rights students and activists/advocates, studying across European Union, united in anger at the inaction of our elected representatives and high officials of the European Union to prevent and condemn violent crimes against humanity being committed in Palestine.
(1) Human Rights Watch, ‘A Threshold Crossed - Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution’ (27 April 2021), available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution .
(2) Access to the full text at: https://eeas.europa.eu/archives/delegations/israel/documents/eu_israel/asso_agree_en.pdf.
(3) Human Rights Watch (1).
(4) Council of the European Union, ‘Council Decision 2014/145/CFSP of 17 March 2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine’ (2014), extended by ‘Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/448 of 12 March 2021 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine’ (2021).