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It’s been reported to be the fastest that any petition to the European Commission has gathered 1 million signatures, the threshold for when the continental executive for the bloc must consider the initiative it proposes.
In this case, it’s a repeal of the EU-Israel Association Agreement (EIAA) a cornerstone of Israel’s largest trading relationship (the EU) with which it exchanges some €42 billion annually in goods.
Organized by Justice for Palestine, the initiative began gathering signatures in January and reached 1 million on April 14th, with quotas met across the required 7 EU member states. The organizers have since expanded the objective to 1.5 million to put further pressure on the European Commission which will now have 3 months to verify the signatures and consider the initiative.
The text is quite straightforward: that Israel has been credibly accused of war crimes, apartheid, other crimes against humanity, and the crime of genocide, during its military conduct in Gaza and Lebanon, and its security situation in the Occupied Territories. As a result, “EU citizens cannot tolerate that the EU maintains an agreement that contributes to legitimize and finance a State that commits crimes against humanity and war crimes”.
“Therefore, we call on the Commission to put forward the proposal to the Council for the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement”.
In effect since 2000, The Cradle reports that the EIAA “governs trade and cooperation between the two sides and includes a clause linking relations to respect for human rights” which would presumably have to have been closely examined since October 7th, 2023, when Israel began its genocidal siege on Gaza and its people.
Yet the agreement is one of several Israel maintains with the bloc. In 2021, Israel joined Horizon Europe, the EU’s main funding program for research and innovation. €1.11 billion from the Horizon Europe fund goes to Israeli companies, universities and public bodies, the initiative details. Among the 921 projects with 231 Israeli recipients are companies that are closely involved with the Israeli military.
It’s curious that the EU would be the largest trading partner with the Zionist state considering America’s close and determined backing of Tel Aviv during the genocide. EU member states, as WaL has reported, have been by far quicker to admonish the Israeli government or implement real and symbolic measures to try and dissuade it from carrying on in Gaza.
The organizers include in their initiative text all decisions reached by the International Court of Justice in the case against Israel for the crime of genocide, and articles in the founding charter of the EU, which include such passages as “acting on the world stage” according to the same principles that the EU was created to enshrine.
“The EU must immediately utilize all available legal, diplomatic and economic means—among which the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement—to force the Israeli government to cease its human rights violations, uphold international law and to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians”. WaL
We Humbly Ask For Your Support—Follow the link here to see all the ways, monetary and non-monetary.
PICTURED ABOVE: IDF troops move through the rubble of Gaza. PC: IDF Spokesmen
