On Solidarity Day with Palestine
The Palestinians, and those who support them around the world, commemorate on the 29th of each year the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, which coincides with the anniversary of Partition Resolution 181.
Global popular solidarity has risen to its best form since the establishment of the occupation, and was manifested last May. After the rise of the case of Sheikh Jarrah and then the war on Gaza, we witnessed great solidarity with the Palestinian people from various cities and capitals of the world, and here we stress the need to build on this solidarity and not leave it temporarily or affected by certain events and times.
I am writing about the memory of solidarity with the Palestinian people because, unfortunately, it has become symbolic at the level of governments and official solidarity, in which speeches, celebrations and conferences are held. It is clear that the only realistic solution between Israel and Palestine is based on two states with Jerusalem as the capital. The truth is that after 30 years, we have to face the fact that these diplomatic responses have not developed any practical measures on the ground, whether from a political or other point of view. No country in the European Union, for example, except for the Kingdom of Sweden, has dared to recognize the Palestinian state to this day. It is limited to the political level, but from an economic point of view, while these donor countries lead the efforts to secure the Palestinian Authority financially, the economic and trade relations between the European Union countries and Israel are very strong, regardless of the official political position in support of the Palestinian right regarding the two-state solution, Jerusalem or settlement, However, the momentum of relations and commercial interests govern diplomatic relations between Israel and the Union, and here we have to work on the Palestinians and by all means to pressure the European Union and the member states of the United Nations to respect their decisions related to settlements! It has become necessary to hold the European Union countries accountable, for example, about implementing their decisions related to settlement products, activating labeling, settlement posters, and the list of companies until we reach a boycott of products originating from settlements on the basis of an agreed-upon principle of their illegality.
In 2018, the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial body in the European Union, issued a decision obligating Israel to label products manufactured in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as the Golan. And let us not forget that the European Union Commission issued a decision in November 2015 requiring the labeling of settlement products (labels) to distinguish products coming from Israeli settlements. Here, what is required is not only labeling the products of the settlements, but also boycotting them as a whole out of respect for the articles that these countries have committed to regarding the rights of the Palestinian people on the 1967 lands. Israel boasts to the world of its trade relations with the European Union, so that we can comprehend the extent of mutual interests. In 2010, the European Union and Israel signed a partnership agreement to enhance economic cooperation between them, and now total Israeli exports exceed $110 billion, of which 18 billion are to the European Union and Israel imports from the European Union. exceeded 30 billion.
All European peoples love and respect the Palestinians. However, the European Union governments, which consider the Israeli settlements “illegal and an obstacle to peace,” are required to raise the level of solidarity with the Palestinian people, move to the implementation stage, and respect their moral and legal obligations towards the political and human rights of the Palestinian people.
This deterioration in solidarity includes the governments of Arab countries that ran after Israel and concluded the “Abraham” agreement, starting with the Emirates to Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, which signed normalization agreements in 2020 within the framework of a purely pragmatic vision to achieve their interests with America and Israel far from war / clash or any Arab framework or A solution to the Palestinian issue, without consulting the Palestinians to achieve its interests in fighting Iran and achieving technological and commercial partnerships with Israel to ensure leadership of the Arab helm in implementing the Deal of the Century.
If we want to be realistic, we proceed from the Palestinian national interest, and adopt the pragmatic approach adopted by the rest of the countries. The foreign policy of states today is not guided by morals, principles and decisions of international law. What guides states today are their interests. In order to strengthen solidarity, we must show an attractive positive image of official solidarity, and here we must start with the file of division, which has become a factor expelling any solidarity with the Palestinian people….