EU to Face Reckoning for Gaza Inaction: The Guardian

By Staff, Agencies

European affairs commentator Shada Islam has accused the European Union of moral failure and structural racism in its handling of "Israel’s" war on Gaza, writing in The Guardian that the bloc’s paralysis goes far beyond political divisions.

Islam argued that EU leaders consistently frame Gaza’s destruction as a “humanitarian tragedy” instead of a deliberate policy, warning of an eventual “moral reckoning” for their inaction.

She noted that despite repeated calls from Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia, member states have blocked efforts to suspend the EU–"Israel" Association Agreement, even after the bloc’s own experts confirmed human rights breaches.

Her critique follows the European Commission’s June 2025 review of the deal’s human rights clause, which acknowledged evidence of violations but stopped short of suspension.

Rights groups condemned the review as a “green light” for further atrocities, while EU ministers in July rejected sanctions and trade restrictions, drawing accusations of betrayal.

Germany and Italy in particular opposed limiting "Israel’s" access to the €95 billion Horizon Europe research program, a move that former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called a “bad joke.”

Although the Commission later proposed a partial suspension from the European Innovation Council’s Accelerator program, most research cooperation and trade remain intact.

"Israeli" exports to Europe even rose in early 2024, while Germany alone approved nearly half a billion euros in arms sales to "Israel" in the months after October 7.

Islam contrasted this muted response with the EU’s sweeping sanctions and aid packages for Ukraine, arguing that the disparity reflects entrenched racism.

She linked Europe’s passivity on Gaza to systemic discrimination faced by Black, brown, and Muslim communities within the bloc, and urged a reckoning with its colonial past.

Without such change, she warned, the EU’s “double standards” would continue to erode both its democratic credibility and its global standing.