End Israel’s Genocide - Escalate Pressure to End EU Complicity in the Ongoing Nakba

The Nakba of 1948 marks a grave chapter in history, where approximately 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes as part of a systematic campaign orchestrated by Zionist militias and later the Israeli army. This tragic event was not merely a singular moment of displacement but also the commencement of decades of oppression and denial of Palestinian rights. Since then, the Palestinian people have experienced the entrenchment of Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid and military occupation of their land, which continues to this day. In the face of such historical and ongoing systematic oppression, international law recognizes the right of people under foreign colonization and military occupation, including the Palestinian people, to resist the system of oppression to achieve self-determination and fundamental human rights. Palestinians have not only the right but also the duty to resist oppression. As we commemorate the Nakba, we reiterate the unyielding spirit of the Palestinian people in their legitimate struggle for freedom, return, justice, and self-determination, especially in a moment like this where our people are experiencing a live-streamed genocide.

Israel’s genocidal war raging against 2.3 million Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip exposes the harrowing truth, with 34,000 Palestinians killed and 76,456 wounded since October 2023. Despite the overwhelming evidence of Israeli atrocities and massacres perpetrated, despite the International Court of Justice’s ruling that Israel is plausibly committing genocide, the EU leaders have consistently failed to fulfill their obligation under international law and under the Genocide Convention particularly. For the most part, they have continued to provide weapons and diplomatic cover to Israel, enabling it to carry on its unspeakable genocide. This makes them complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide, betraying the very principles of justice and human rights they profess to uphold. We must call out and challenge this complicity, demanding that those in power uphold the values they claim to cherish. Enough is enough! 

After months of relentless genocide, the Israeli strategy has been clear: this is a golden opportunity to forcibly expel as many Palestinians as possible from Gaza, most of them already Nakba refugees. The methods employed are both direct and indirect, ranging from overt military aggression, to siege, to the systematic destruction of infrastructure essential for life—water supplies, hospitals, schools, universities, farms, and homes are all targeted to make existence untenable. Human rights organizations have condemned Israel’s use of starvation against Palestinians as a weapon of war. This calculated obliteration of the very signs of life is a brutal strategy aimed at causing irreparable harm and creating a coercive environment for the Palestinians to leave their lands, largely mirroring the ethnic cleansing during the 1948 Nakba. We demand immediate cessation of EU complicity in these Israeli atrocities and affirm our commitment to struggle, to pressure, to nonviolently disrupt business-as-usual to ensure that these plans do not come to fruition.

In addition to the relentless genocide in Gaza, we are now witnessing a surge in colonial violence across the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem, and against Palestinians of the 48’ region. This manifests as aggressive military incursions into cities, villages and refugee camps, widespread mass arrest campaigns, intimidation, intensified torture tactics against Palestinian prisoners and hostages, suffocating blockades, and escalating violence perpetrated by armed settlers against Palestinians. This continuum of brutality, spanning from Gaza's genocide to the intensified oppression in the West Bank, is a clear reflection of the enduring legacy of the Zionist settler-colonial project. This systematic violence and terror are not just an attack; it's a calculated attempt to erase Palestinian culture, society, and very existence. We call for an immediate end to EU complicity in these injustices. Silence is complicity, and we must rise, pressure, disrupt and demand that this regime of settler colonialism and oppression be dismantled. 

On May 19th, we will rally together and collectively demand: the recognition and protection of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. United and steadfast, we assert the fundamental rights of Palestinians to self-determination and the right of return. 

As the EU elections draw near, it is crucial that we amplify our demands, louder and more forcefully than ever. We, as European citizens and residents, have marched relentlessly for over six months, yet our calls for justice have not been heard and have been blatantly ignored. With the EU elections on the horizon, the time has come to make politicians listen to their constituencies and take concrete action to end European complicity with genocide and apartheid. 

We refuse to stand by as mere witnesses to injustice. We challenge every politician and every candidate: Stand with us, or stand aside. It's time for transformative change, not just for empty promises. We demand action, accountability, and genuine commitment to justice for the Palestinian people.

Our demands for European countries, whether part of the European Union or not, are clear: 

1. To actively support the implementation of an immediate and permanent ceasefire, lifting of the siege, and the unconditional entry of aid to Gaza, as called for in a UN Security Council resolution and several General Assembly resolutions. 
2. To impose lawful political, economic, diplomatic sanctions and other countermeasures, particularly a comprehensive two-way military embargo, as called for by dozens of UN human rights experts; cancelling free-trade and cooperation agreements and energy deals; banning goods from companies implicated in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise; and supporting a UNGA resolution to this effect. 
3. Ensure that corporate entities and institutions domiciled in their territory or under their jurisdiction cease and desist from supporting Israel’s genocide and other crimes under international law, including apartheid and colonial settlements, and hold them accountable for any complicity. 
4. Pressure the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to swiftly advance investigation regarding all perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide carried out against the Palestinian people" and to immediately issue arrest warrants for the case files before the Court since 2014. 
5. Fully support South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ.