The German Position Has Begun to Progress but Still Disrupts the Moral Power of the European Union!

Author: محمد الرجوب

The announcement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to temporarily halt the export of military equipment that could be used in Gaza to Israel can be seen as a notable positive shift in the position of the most influential country in the European Union. Some consider this decision to be significant and impactful given that it comes from Germany, which is the second largest arms exporter to Israel after the United States.

For 22 months, Germany insisted on standing by the right-wing Israeli government, supporting it with arms and diplomacy, despite the atrocities in Gaza and the imposition of realities in the West Bank, and it was a dissonant voice against the European consensus regarding the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. Even symbolic steps from Britain, France, and other European countries towards recognizing the State of Palestine were viewed by Germany as a "one-sided step"!

The double standards of the majority of Western countries have contributed to the continuation of genocide, but current positions show that countries with a colonial past in our region are morally superior to Germany, which refrained from signing a statement issued by 25 Western countries led by Britain demanding Israel to immediately lift the restrictions it imposes on the flow of aid to Gaza and emphasizing refusal of any measures that would lead to demographic changes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The courageous Israeli journalist Gideon Levy was correct when he wrote in Haaretz that "recognition of Palestine came as an alternative to the real step that must be taken now, which is to impose sanctions to stop genocide".

The tragedy in Gaza has been an eye-opener, revealing the extent of complicity in international politics to the degree that one no longer needs to know what goes on in closed rooms or to have a deep understanding of the mazes of politics to discover the background of statements and decisions. Thus, the step of recognizing the State of Palestine - despite its symbolic importance - appears as an attempt by European countries to absorb the anger of their public first and foremost. Recognition alone is a truncated and even dangerous step for the Palestinians, as the extreme Israeli right uses it as a pretext to multiply its violence through killing, starvation, displacement, and destruction of the foundations of life in Gaza and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. The essence of recognition of the state will only serve to deter Israel from taking actions that would prevent its realization on the ground, foremost among them preventing the displacement of Palestinians from their lands and implanting settlers in their place.

Returning to the German position, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul concluded his recent visit to Israel with a statement saying: "For Germany, recognition of the Palestinian state is supposed to come at the end of the negotiation process, but this process must start now. Germany will not deviate from this goal and will have to respond to unilateral actions." The most likely conclusion is that the unilateral actions the minister threatens to respond to are the recognition of the state, as successive Israeli governments and their settlers have been imposing unilateral steps on the ground throughout the years of conflict. Since the current Israeli government took office, the West Bank has been experiencing a completed ethnic cleansing, and Germany has not taken a serious position.

Other statements by the German Foreign Minister reveal the extent of the disconnection in the foreign policy of a country that claims to be breaking away from its past when he says: "Israel is at risk of isolation, and Germany is striving to prevent that." What the minister, who is supposed to uphold the values of justice as a man of law, should be concerned about is not Israel facing isolation, while its committing genocide against another people is not of interest to the German Foreign Minister!

The German minister continues during his visit to the village of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, to assess the remnants of the repeated terrorist attacks on its church and homes by settlers in recent weeks, stating: "These attacks are not unilateral actions; they are crimes against citizens that rise to the level of terrorism and must be followed up and stopped (...) Reports that some army elements stood by watching or even supported these actions are horrifying reports." Here, the minister ridicules minds when he tried in vain to point fingers at "elements" in the army rather than at the Israeli government and military institution as being responsible for the terrorism of settlers; these "elements" are governed by the principle of obedience and carry out their leaders' orders, and this fact cannot be denied!

History will be harsh on those who committed or supported genocide, and Germany ought to stop obstructing all decisions aimed at pressuring Israel within European Union institutions, decisions that would have contributed to stopping the genocide a long time ago or at least would have prevented the weaponization of civilian starvation had they been implemented at the right time. EU institutions make decisions by the consensus of member states, and decisions usually pass if they are based on agreements in the central countries of the union, and a decision cannot be issued without Germany's approval, which has paralyzed European institutions from playing an effective role concerning Israel.
  

The EU has invested in its moral power to build a narrative among European and international public opinion for rejecting the occupation of others’ lands against the backdrop of the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine; today, this narrative is completely collapsing, and there will be no possibility to restore it in the foreseeable future unless Europe, led by Germany, aligns itself with the values of international justice that it has long bragged about, thereby protecting its interests and those of others.