“The Silence of the European Union Equals Complicity” in occupied Palestine | Evin Incir

Evin Incir, MEP, European Parliament’s Rapporteur for relations with the Palestinian Authority, argues that the EU’s approach to Israel and Palestine is marked by inconsistency between its stated commitment to international law and its actual conduct. At the 2026 UN Palestine Committee engagement with European Civil Society Organizations in Brussels on 6 May 2026, she rejected the idea that there is a stable status quo, warning that conditions are “getting worse and worse” and that continued settlement expansion could make a two-state solution impossible. In her view, the EU applies international law selectively: it has acted “in the side of the oppressed” regarding Ukraine, but “when it comes to Israel and Palestine… we fail.” She also stresses that criticism of the Israeli government should not be confused with antisemitism, arguing that Europe can both “prevent and combat antisemitism” and oppose violations of international law. For Incir, the issue “is not about left and right” but “about right and wrong,” and the EU loses credibility when it talks about international law but is unable to “walk the talk.” She calls for concrete EU measures against illegal settlements and other violations, noting that settlement growth is among the greatest threats to a two-state solution while the EU does “totally nothing.” Her proposals include suspending all or part of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, imposing targeted sanctions on decision-makers responsible for settlement expansion, demanding compensation for demolished EU-funded projects, enforcing international court decisions, banning settlement products, and introducing a weapons embargo. She emphasizes that “settlements are illegal, under international law” and asks why the EU cannot “ban what should be illegal.” Incir concludes that EU inaction amounts to “complicity” and insists that political choices matter because there is a significant gap between “what we could do” and what European institutions are currently willing to do. More details about the conference: https://www.un.org/unispal/committee-...