Panel discussion on Gaza’s ‘genocide’ label in European Parliament

European Parliament discusses the legal and political consequences of labeling Israel’s actions as ‘genocide’

In the European Parliament, an event titled “Gaza: Legal and Political Consequences of the Genocide Qualification” was organized by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and hosted by the Greens/EFA Group.

The event, moderated by Maha Abdallah, a legal researcher from the Ramallah-based human rights organization Al-Haq, and Yosra Frawes, a legal advisor from FIDH, featured speakers including French MEP Mounir Satouri from the Greens/EFA Group, South Africa’s Ambassador to The Hague Vusi Madonsela, South African lawyer and human rights expert Kayan Leung, FIDH Vice President and lawyer Alexis Deswaef, international criminal law and human rights expert Prosecutor Johann Soufi, and former Belgian Federal Parliament Member and Senator Simone Susskind.

Satouri criticized the European Parliament for still having lawmakers who view the events in Gaza within the framework of Israel’s right to self-defense, saying, “Can you imagine? These are the people representing Europe. We are in such an environment.”

Referring to the European Parliament elections in June, Satouri mentioned that European voters will make a different choice than usual this time.

Satouri emphasized the need to cancel the EU-Israel partnership agreement.

Susskind recalled that the Belgian Federal Parliament endorsed a call to recognize Palestine as a state in 2015, stating that Belgium should stand behind this decision.

Susskind called on all European countries to recognize the state of Palestine as a first step.

Madonsela also noted that drawing from his country’s experience with apartheid, they felt a moral obligation to bring the violations suffered by Palestinians to the International Court of Justice.

Arms sales to Israel

Deswaef stated that they work with 188 organizations from 116 countries, saying, “We work under difficult conditions. We try to gather information about crimes.”

Deswaef called on the European Parliament to condemn Israel and urged governments to take action, pressuring them to halt arms sales to Israel.

Source: Newsroom

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