In Solidarity with the civilians in Israel and Palestine
GRÜNE JUGEND distances itself from this entire statement
The Federation of Young European Greens (FYEG) strongly condemns the attacks against civilians in Israel and Palestine and calls for an equal and full application of international law and implementation of UN resolutions.
On the 7th of October, Hamas killed and abducted hundreds of civilians in a surprise terrorist attack that targeted a music festival, public spaces and peoples homes. FYEG condemns these unjustifiable crimes. Hamas is a terrorist organisation and its actions do not represent the Palestinian people. Humanitarian aid to Palestine should not be cancelled; in that sense, we welcome the decision of the EU foreign ministers and the quick reaction to stop the potential suspension of due payments from the EU. The EU and the European countries should make sure that the citizens of Gaza have access to humanitarian corridors and that packages aid for Palestinians are provided.
The respect for international law is of paramount importance in order to stop the escalation of violence and the number of innocent victims. While self-defence is an inherent right of a State in response to armed attacks, the siege by Israel that the people in Gaza are facing is not in line with international law, as has been pointed out by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs. Not only is the siege disproportionate and targeting civilians, but the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas confirmed by Human Rights Watch is also a war crime. Besides suffering the blockade of food, water, electricity and other supplies, residents in Gaza are enduring indiscriminate attacks against civil buildings (schools, hospitals, religious temples) and homes. Through these attacks against the Gazan population, from the disproportionate airstrikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure, to the complete blockade of essential resources, to the bombing of the singular pathway out of Gaza, and to the impossibility of the demand for 1.1 million Palestinians to evacuate before a ground offensive, this puts the Palestinian people at risk of ethnic cleansing.
The current spiral of violence is the culmination of the failure of the international community in enforcing the international treaties of peace and security and in ensuring a fair solution for the self-determination of Palestinians, currently living under threat of dislocation, blockade, and human rights violation in the Palestinian territories and in refugee camps.
The illegal actions of the Israeli government are not reflective of the Jewish faith or the global Jewish community, and to suggest otherwise is anti-Semitic. Likewise, Islamist terrorist organisations, that mostly target and terrorise the peoples living in countries with a muslim majority, do not represent Islam or the global Muslim community, and to suggest otherwise is Islamophobic. FYEG is committed to the eradication of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and other racial, ethnic or religious discrimination in all forms.
We urge the European Union and the governments of Europe to act and work for peace. We call on the international community to hold accountable the perpetrators of war crimes and violation of Human Rights on both sides to guarantee the wellbeing and prosperity of the civilians in Palestine and in Israel, and stop turning a blind eye to atrocities occurring in the region, while masquerading as human rights-leaders at home.
On the general context of the situation in the region, FYEG adopted the resolution “Palestine: Towards The End of Occupation, an Establishment of Peace” in May 2018. We stand by the analysis and demands of said text.
