On International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (29 Nov), we express our full commitment to the Palestinian cause of liberation, self-determination and human rights. We stand with the Palestinian people resisting daily humiliation in their homeland. We also express our support for progressive forces in Israel standing against these injustices and fighting for equality.

We, Europeans, would not accept a single day of occupation of our towns and cities. Why should Palestinians?

Over seven decades of Palestinian dispossession must end. Europe must own up to its historical and moral responsibility for the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) by holding Israel accountable for violations of international law, putting in place an arms embargo to the region and suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Watch our trailer:

As part of our Imagine Annexation campaign we have created images, which “imagine” European cities occupied, the lives of European citizens disrupted, to bring home the reality of life Palestinians live every day.

Paris

Rome

Madrid

Budapest

Compare these imagined realities with the living realities of Palestinians.

The EU must hold Israel to account, end impunity for violations, ensure respect for international law and a just solution to the conflict by:

 

1. Banning trade with Israel’s illegal settlements: estimated EU imports from Israeli settlements valued at 230 million euros annually vs. 15 million euros for Palestinian imports.  The UN estimates a $48 billion revenue loss for Palestinians 2000-2017 due to Israel’s occupation.
2. Imposing a military embargo: EU export licenses to Israel valued at about 777 million euros annually in addition to EU purchases of Israeli arms tested on Palestinians. EU weapons go to an occupation army committing daily human rights abuses.
3. Suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Article 2 states that the agreement is based on the respect for human rights, which Israel violates daily.
4. Excluding Israel from participation in EU funding programmes such as Horizon. Israel has received 840 million euros worth of EU funding in the last cycle, a large chunk of this money goes to Israeli weapons companies or entities involved in Israeli settlements.
5. Recognising a Palestinian state. Only one EU member state, Sweden, has recognised the State of Palestine following the 2012 Palestinian statehood declaration. Malta and Cyprus had recognised Palestine before joining the Union.