BRUSSELS,(Palestine Foundation Information Center) Amnesty International has described the European Union’s decision not to suspend its association agreement with Israel as a “cruel and unlawful betrayal” of EU principles and human rights, especially in light of Israel’s ongoing violations against Palestinians.
Agnes Callamard, Amnesty’s Secretary General, said in a statement following the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Tuesday:
“The EU’s refusal to suspend the agreement represents a betrayal of the very project of the Union, which is founded on respect for international law and opposition to tyranny. It is also a violation of the EU’s own rules and an affront to the human rights of Palestinians.”
“This day will go down as one of the most shameful moments in EU history.”
Amnesty noted that the EU squandered the opportunity to take a principled stand against “Israel’s crimes” and instead gave it a green light to continue “the genocide in Gaza, the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and the apartheid system against the Palestinian people.”
The organization pointed out that even the EU’s own review concluded that Israel is breaching its human rights obligations under the agreement, yet member states chose to maintain the preferential trade deal rather than uphold their international obligations and save Palestinian lives.
“Each time the EU fails to act, the risk of complicity in these crimes increases,” Callamard stressed.
She called on member states to take individual steps to suspend all forms of cooperation with Israel that may contribute to its serious breaches of international law, including imposing a comprehensive arms embargo, banning trade and investment in Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Yesterday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers reportedly discussed several options, including full suspension of the agreement, an arms embargo, halting research and trade cooperation with Israel, and sanctioning certain Israeli officials, but none of these options garnered sufficient support.
Amnesty urged member states to now act independently or collectively to align their policies with international law, as clarified by the International Court of Justice in its 2024 advisory opinion on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
