No matter what the bloc says in an attempt to retain its purported peacebuilding narrative, it is only a matter of time until the EU announces new deals with Israel, rewarding colonialism for depriving the indigenous Palestinians of their right to their land.
No matter what the bloc says in an attempt to retain its purported peacebuilding narrative, it is only a matter of time until the EU announces new deals with Israel, rewarding colonialism for depriving the indigenous Palestinians of their right to their land.
If the European Union stopped with its charade of supporting Palestinian rights, it might at least be commended for being forthright. Within the same timeframe of the EU announcing an increase in Israeli settlement construction in 2021 when compared to 2020, EU foreign ministers also decided to reconvene the EU-Israel Association Council, which has not convened since 2012. No date has been specified for the meeting, with EU Foreign Affairs Chief Josep Borrell stating that a common position needs to be reached by all EU foreign ministers prior to convening the Council.
The European Coalition for Israel has lauded the decision as a diplomatic breakthrough. “With the current challenges facing the European continent and the international system as a whole, the EU needs to strengthen its strategic position in the world. There is no better partner for the EU and its citizens than the State of Israel. Renewing the Israel Association Council is therefore a win-win-win, which also includes the Palestinian side.”
How Palestinians will benefit from strengthening bilateral ties between Israel and the EU is a discrepancy that only promoters of colonialism can concoct. If a shard of justice still prevailed within the EU, one would ask why is the EU so intent on rewarding Israel for its international law violations by strengthening diplomatic relations, while pretending to uphold the rights of Palestinians through the two-state compromise.
The EU-Israel Association Council meetings were first cancelled by Israel after the EU decided to differentiate between Israel and the settlements. In the following years, EU member states opposed meetings, stating that more progress on peace negotiations was necessary before the meetings were convened again. Not so anymore.
Borrell’s position is that since “the situation” is deteriorating because the EU will not use the term colonial expansion, it is time that the EU utilises the EU-Israel Association Council to discuss “these issues”. However, “issues” could be anything and it is more likely that the EU will be striking profitable deals with Israel under the guise of engaging diplomatically with Israel over its colonial settlement expansion.
No big deal for the EU, of course, and a triumph for Israel. Meanwhile, all Palestinians have got in terms of inconsequential reassurance is Borrell stating that “The position of the EU has not changed with respect to the Middle East peace process, and we will continue … supporting the two-state solution.”
Of course, the EU’s position has not changed with regard to the two-state hypothesis. It is a convenient diplomatic excuse, no longer a policy, which allows its proponents to remain loyal to a defunct paradigm that allows change on the ground to occur unabated. There is no single government in the world, including the Palestinian Authority, which is willing to expose how the framework has divested Palestinians of their right to a state.
All that is required in terms of “supporting” Palestine is to declare adherence to the two-state compromise, in the full knowledge that such support will not overstep the limits of rhetoric.
Unfortunately, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s statement is more truthful than the gibberish the EU came up with. Reviving the EU-Israel Association Council, he said, “is evidence of Israel’s diplomatic power and the government’s ability to create new opportunities with the international community.”
The EU cloaked its decision in the two-state rhetoric, even as Israel sees no need to embellish the reality – that of altering Palestinian land to the point that a Palestinian state is no longer possible. No matter what the bloc says in an attempt to retain its purported peacebuilding narrative, it is only a matter of time until the EU announces new deals with Israel, rewarding colonialism for depriving the indigenous Palestinians of their right to their land.
