EU staff voice concern over union’s Gaza response

BRUSSELS

Over 200 employees of the EU’s institutions and agencies have signed a letter expressing deep concerns regarding the union’s handling of the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

The letter is set to be delivered to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and EU Council President Charles Michel on May 24, according to the Guardian, which saw the document exclusively.

The letter warned that that the EU's “continued apathy to the plight of Palestinians” risks legitimizing a world order where the use of force, rather than adherence to a rule-based system, dictates state security, territorial integrity and political independence.

This contradicts the union's fundamental values and its mission to promote peace, 211 staff members said in the letter.

“It was precisely to avert such a grim world order that our grandparents, witnesses of the horrors of World War II, created Europe,” the letter read.

“To stand idly by in the face of such an erosion of the international rule of law would mean failing the European project as envisaged by them. This cannot happen in our name.”

The signatories, promised confidentiality, were not named in the public version of the letter. It called on the EU to officially demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire, along with other requests such as advocating for the release of all hostages and halting member states' arms exports to Israel, both directly and indirectly.

This letter follows a demonstration by over 100 EU employees in Brussels protesting Israel's actions in Gaza, emphasizing the importance of “upholding the rights, principles and values upon which European institutions are founded.”

Meanwhile, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on May 24 rejected criticism by Israel that Spain, Norway and Ireland “reward terrorism” after they announced their decision to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

“Every time someone takes the decision to support Palestinian state-building, something that everyone in Europe supports, Israel’s reaction is to turn it into an anti-Semitic attack.”

Borrell said that other European counties were mulling recognition of a Palestinian state, without providing further details.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on May 24 he had decided to "sever the connection" between Spain's diplomatic mission and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over Madrid's recognition of a Palestinian state.

Katz said his decision was made "in response to Spain's recognition of a Palestinian state and the anti-Semitic call by Spain's deputy prime minister to... 'liberate Palestine from the river to the sea.'"

Borrell also urged Israel "not to intimidate" or "threaten" the judges of the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor has requested arrest warrants for Israel's prime minister and defense minister.

"I ask everyone, starting with the Israeli government, but also certain European governments, not to intimidate the judges, not to threaten them," Borrell said during an interview with Spanish public television TVE, calling for "respect for the International Criminal Court".

What the court's prosecutor "has done in presenting a case should not be considered as an anti-Semitic attitude," the former Spanish foreign minister added.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan said Monday that he requested arrest warrants for as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohamed Deif, on suspicions of war crimes and crimes against humanity.