Above photo: Props put up in an anti-war demonstration in Haifa, Israel. Communist Youth, Israel.
But Rejects Arms Embargo Against Israel.
The amendment to a report which called for a ceasefire in Gaza was supported by 265 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). 253 MEPs voted against it while 10 MEPs abstained from voting
On March 2, progressive sections across the world observed a global day of action to demand that Israel immediately cease its genocidal war on Gaza and stop its planned invasion of Rafah.
Millions of people have already hit the streets across the world calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Several countries from the Global South have already urged international bodies to intervene in the conflict and initiate prosecution of the Zionist state of Israel and the Benjamin Nethanyahu-led government for the genocide of the Palestinians and other war crimes.
However, the major sponsors of Israel in the US and Europe continue to support the slaughter and the escalation of the conflict in the entire West Asia region.
The European Parliament was able to call for a permanent, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza only last month, on February 28, over 140 days after the genocidal war began.
On that day, at the initiative of the Left, the European Parliament’s plenary in Strasbourg amended the 67th article of the 2023 Report on the ‘Human Rights and Democracy in the World and the European Union’s policy on the matter’ to include the call for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, allowing uninterrupted access to food and water for its inhabitants.”
The amendment was supported by 265 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). 253 MEPs voted against it while 10 MEPs abstained from voting. But the plenary overwhelmingly voted down the Left’s call to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
Following the vote, the Left bloc stated “Four months of constant bombing, 30,000 deaths, famine, no access to basic needs, and an ongoing genocide. This is what Palestinians in Gaza are living through. We all know they need more than parliamentary declarations, they need action. For this reason, we demanded an arms embargo, but almost 400 MEPs voted against it.”
Marc Botenga, MEP from the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA), hailed the call for unconditional ceasefire as a first win. “Thanks to the solidarity movement in Europe, we have opened a breach. Activism pays off,” he said. “Let’s not give up. (More) Action is needed. Europe can no longer be complicit in genocide. Let’s force Israel into a ceasefire. Let’s impose an embargo on arms. Let’s end the privileged partnership between Europe and Israel.”
Over 30,000 people have been killed in the ongoing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, which started on October 8, 2023. More than 1.9 million people are displaced from Gaza, and over 7000 people are estimated to be missing.