European lawmakers accuse EU of being complicit in Israel’s war crimes

By Selen Valente Rasquinho

BRUSSELS (AA) - Several European lawmakers slammed the European Union on Tuesday, accusing it of being complicit in Israel’s war crimes in Gaza.

Speaking at a session of the European Parliament on the situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave, Abir Al-Sahlani, an Iraqi-born Swedish Member of the European Parliament (MEP), symbolically protested against Israel’s attacks by raising her hand, which she had painted red, and covering her mouth with her other hand.

After the speaker of the parliament intervened, Al-Sahlani said: "Mr. president, there are no words left to describe what is happening in Gaza."

"Israel has violated every rule it could violate. We have no other authority to appeal to. The hypocrisy is obvious. Human rights have a color. The darker your color, the less your rights,” she added.

Also addressing the session, French lawmaker Manon Aubry said: "As we speak here, 1.5 million people know they will die in (the city of) Rafah if we don’t do anything (to stop the Israeli attacks).”

"People are dying because we are providing military equipment to Israel to kill thousands of Palestinians. They are dying because the EU chooses to turn a blind eye to this and chooses to renew the partnership agreement with Israel for the sake of a little profit,” she added.

Spanish lawmaker Miguel Urban Crespo said Israel is organizing a new Nakba with the complicity of European governments. He was referring to the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” when around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war that led to Israel’s creation.

Mentioning his recent visit to Rafah border crossing, he said: “There were people filling the area just a few meters away. While 600 (aid) trucks need to pass a day, only five are allowed to pass. Israel uses hunger as a weapon of war."

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing nearly 30,000 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.