It is time for Europe, more than ever, to search for an
independent role for itself and move away from the dependence on US foreign
policy on our Palestinian national issue. Despite the European crises existing
today, Europe must take the initiative and fulfill its role by trying to do
what the US has not done for various reasons that I have spoken about in
previous articles.
اضافة اعلان
What is required now is a European role that is consistent
with the basic systems of its countries as well as the foundational principles
of the emergence of the European Union (EU). This role should contribute to
reshaping the relationship with Israel and exerting actual pressure on it to
end the historical colonial injustice against our Palestinian people. It should
also strive to achieve relative justice for issues concerning peace, security,
and stability in the region, as well as freedom and the right to
self-determination. Additionally, Europe should play a leading role in putting
an end to the development of a new apartheid regime following the fall of its
predecessor in South Africa. The most crucial objective now is to stop this
insane aggression of genocide, which modern history has not witnessed in
relative terms.
Since the new Israeli colonial occupation government has
become clearer and more repulsive to the international community, and certainly
to the theoretical values and principles of the EU, in which the claim of a
‘temporary military occupation’ and the claim of ‘Israeli democracy’ are
dropped, it is now an opportunity for the EU and its member states to
reconsider the existing relationship with Israel. This relationship is mainly
represented by the strategic relationship between them based on the partnership
agreement and forms of cooperation in various sectors, including the military.
What is required now is a European role that is consistent with the basic systems of its countries as well as the foundational principles of the emergence of the European Union (EU)
Most of the parliaments of the EU countries had issued
recommendations years ago, calling on their governments to recognize the
independent, continuous, and sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem
as its capital. They have also made decisions related to condemning colonial
settlements and boycotting their products. Additionally, European
parliamentarians, progressive parties, unions, and municipalities have urged
their governments to impose sanctions on this colonial regime, condemning its
brutal policies in all international and regional forums.
These calls come in response to repercussions that have
persisted for more than seven decades since the establishment of this colonial
state, which has been implementing a project of ethnic cleansing, apartheid,
and population displacement of colonial settler groups at the expense of the
rights of our indigenous Palestinian people to their land. The streets of
European cities are also witnessing millions of demonstrations denouncing the
crimes of the colonial occupying state, as well as the biased policies of
European governments and their commitment to the policies of the White House.
However, despite all this progress in European popular
solidarity with our people, the governments of EU countries have continued to
pursue selective policies characterized by double standards and hypocrisy
regarding the repercussions of the Israeli occupation compared to other issues
around the world. Furthermore, they have often equated the victim with the
executioner in many of their verbal positions.
EU officials praised 'Israel's model of democracy' for a
long period without officially deciding to recognize it by these
recommendations, despite some changes that were recently forced upon it
according to these popular demands.
However, despite all this progress in European popular solidarity with our people, the governments of EU countries have continued to pursue selective policies characterized by double standards and hypocrisy regarding the repercussions of the Israeli occupation compared to other issues around the world
The EU today must recognize the rise of religious fascism in
the Israeli regime, the occupying state, and the related measures taken by
their government. These measures include the approval of legislation that added
a racist essence through their Jewish nationality law, which involves the
withdrawal of nationalities from Palestinians residing in Israel, particularly
the prisoners among them. The law prohibiting the raising of the Palestinian
flag was adopted before the ongoing aggression.
All of these measures, along with others, are characterized
by the legitimization of racism and constitute clear violations of
international humanitarian law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
These violations contradict the essence of European culture and the fundamental
principles of the EU.
These measures also pose a threat to the stability of
European societies themselves. What is taking place today, in terms of
genocidal aggression with US partnership in substance, form, and content,
confirms to people far and wide, as well as to all advocates of democracy in
the West, that a 'state' was established based on ethnic cleansing and the
ideology of settler colonialism. After 76 years without accountability from the
existing international order, and even with encouragement to commit its crimes,
this 'state' is characterized by its political system.
All of these measures, along with others, are characterized by the legitimization of racism and constitute clear violations of international humanitarian law and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These violations contradict the essence of European culture and the fundamental principles of the EU.
Now, with the highest forms of fascist Zionist thought, the
escalation of its internal crises and political chaos, and the insistence on
adapting its legislation and judicial system accordingly on one hand, as well
as the attempts to complete the implementation of its Talmudic Zionist project
in ‘Greater Israel’ on the other, the threat to stability in the region and the
brutality against our people increases. This translates into instability and
absolute insecurity for them.
On the other hand, Benjamin Netanyahu announced from the
beginning that his new government would work according to several directions,
the most prominent of which was, "The Jewish people have an exclusive and
inalienable right throughout the Land of Israel so that the government
encourages the expansion of the Jewish presence throughout the 'Greater Land of
Israel’.”
According to his claim, he should sound the alarm to the EU
that the time has come to address the serious consequences of this, as we see
today, represented by the increase in the rate of its daily crimes against our
people, based on the current events.
Europeans must now be morally and politically bold and question old assumptions, including the saying 'the success of the democratic Zionist experiment,' which the West helped promote and even defend
If the European countries, through the EU, still believe,
after these ongoing changes and the statements issued by the Prime Minister of
the colonial occupation state, and the escalation of crimes on the ground in
Gaza and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, that it is possible to implement
the vision of the ‘two-state solution’ as an international option by
international resolutions, many useful and necessary initiatives in this
direction may be immediately available to the Europeans themselves to confront
this situation.
Despite the remaining occupied Palestinian land without
settlements, and to ensure that the matter does not merely rely on statements
or verbal declarations that sometimes take the form of political hypocrisy,
they can first review the European-Israeli Association Agreement and provide
practical application to support and enhance the legitimacy of the principle of
the two-state solution. This can be achieved by joining the countries that have
recognized the State of Palestine on the borders before June 4, 1967, with East
Jerusalem as its capital, and by upholding Resolution 194 related to the issue
of our refugees.
More importantly, since they can impose sanctions on various
countries, they can impose economic as well as political sanctions on Israel
and intensify them until Israel, the colonial occupying power, complies with
international law and relevant UN resolutions. This includes stopping the
genocidal aggression by ending the occupation first before discussing
subsequent political initiatives for peace, in addition to dropping forms of
apartheid as another crime.
But if the European countries are still constrained by a
complex of fear stemming from the dictates of the US since World War II, Jewish
financial interests, or intimidated by the specter of anti-Semitism and the
Holocaust, and therefore are not prepared to take such practical initiatives,
or if they have reached the conviction that the two-state solution is no longer
feasible, then that is indeed the case.
Europeans must now realize clearly that there is no occupation without a price, as was not the case in Europe previously, and that freedom for our Palestinian people and their right to self-determination require principled political positions that differ from what we have seen previously or now regarding verbal talk about the two-state solution
Then the only
question now is whether the current one-state reality will continue to be the
reality of an Israeli apartheid regime with Jewish supremacy, or if it can be
transformed into a democratic reality as some may believe. European nations
must reflect on their history and responsibilities to determine the most useful
way forward. Seeking peace through Democracy, Justice, and equal rights in one
state may be a more realistic model for some Europeans, rather than continuing
to pursue a supposed peace process that does not find an Israeli partner and is
based on dividing the land, expanding settlements, Judaization, genocide, and
displacement simultaneously.
The question also concerns the Western allies of the
occupying state in Europe, who have consistently praised shared values with it
to mask their disregard for the Palestinian cause. However, these values have
become impossible to reconcile today or hide under the justifications of
security and self-defense for Israeli society in the face of ongoing
developments in the form and essence of the regime in Israel and its government
policies.
Europeans must now be morally and politically bold and
question old assumptions, including the saying 'the success of the democratic
Zionist experiment,' which the West helped promote and even defend. The
established truth is that Zionism was and remains a racist ideology and an
anti-Semitic dream itself, which provides hope in confronting Europe today and
the possibility of urging Jews to leave or reverse migration and move to
another place to live and return to their original places in Europe and elsewhere,
instead of continuing to oppose human justice and international and
humanitarian law through absolute support for the escalating racial and
religious colonial settlement experience through fascism and genocide and
attempts at displacement of multiple causes.
This will reflect a European moral and political recognition
that Zionism as a political movement, like some ‘political doctrines’ such as
Nazism that emerged in the 20th century and captured the imagination of
millions, were racist ideas that have tragically harmed the masses of humanity.
It is also a way to atone for Europe's past sins against the
Jews that unfairly reflect on our Palestinian inalienable national rights, by
welcoming Israeli Jews for resettlement in European countries. This is a
logical measure that only anti-Semites or Zionists who seek to build a new
apartheid system in the land of historic Palestine, politically and in Talmudic
and religious terms known as “The Kingdom of the Jews," would oppose, and
which Europe would oppose.
Therefore, Europeans must realize clearly that there is no
occupation without a price, as was not the case in Europe previously, and that
freedom for our Palestinian people and their right to self-determination
require principled political positions that differ from what we have seen
previously or now regarding verbal talk about the two-state solution.
Empowering our people with their right to self-determination
and sovereignty over their national territory, based on historical rights and
international resolutions, is the only guarantor of the solutions that
Europeans are trying to contribute to. It is the only solution to end the
existing conflict and establish freedom, security, and peace. This will not
only be in the interest of the future of the Palestinian people but also for
the issues of peace and security in our wider region.
Marwan Emil Toubassi is the former ambassador of Palestine to Athens with an MSc in political science and, a BA in economics. He served as the ambassador to Greece from 2013 to 2021, governor from 2009 to 2012, and served as the deputy minister of tourism from 2004 to 2009.
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