Ever since the development in Palestine on 7 October we have seen the true face of the European Union in its most blatant form.
That the EU is an imperialist alliance of states is not a new point, and certainly one which is common throughout the socialist-communist left. Nonetheless, a number of liberals seem to have had a rude awakening to the reality of their preferred imperialist bloc.
A justified uproar over how the EU’s unabashed siding with the genocidal Zionist regime has came from those who saw the EU as an embodiment of “European Values”. But what are these values? The EU’s own statement says:
“Human Dignity, Freedom, Democracy, Equality, Rule of Law, Human Rights”
Fine principles, I’m sure, but we all know that deeds are more important than words.
So what is the EU’s track record here? Of course we can see how it has completely disregarded any care for equality, dignity or freedom for the Palestinian people. The EU has recently announced that it will increase aid to Palestinians, yet the German state is discussing sending ammunition to Israel.
Imagine: Palestinians being maimed by German bombs. This is not merely a humanitarian crisis, this is an active genocide as part of an ongoing occupation that the European Union and its EEC predecessor proudly stands behind and defends. It does all this while its leading member-states, such as Germany and France, are actively cracking down and criminalising displays of solidarity with Palestine.
In Germany, displays of the Palestinian flag, fundraising for Palestinian aid, and the wearing of a keffiyeh are now all banned on the grounds that they “endanger” public safety.
Meanwhile, Zionist demonstrations are allowed to proceed without any interference or hindrance as Zionist forces kill thousands of Palestinians.
Many European states and European politician’s statements have been made about “Israel’s right to defend itself”, but any conscious human can ask themselves: “What defence is there in displacing 1.1 million Palestinians (many of whom are already refugees) from Gaza whilst cutting off critical supplies?”
Where is the commitment to human dignity and human rights? In the mouths of these imperialist liars these are meaningless phrases used to win votes and build a propagandistic image.
This is nothing new in the European Union. The European Union fundamentally exists to maintain the interests of its imperialistic components and to allow for the capitalists of its component states to exploit each other’s workers more efficiently, and to pool their collective resources to further exploit the countries beyond the bloc and secure their own positions.
The former can be seen in initiatives such as free movement, which exists as a means for peripheral EU countries to supply cheap labour and to allow for the free flow of profits.
The latter can be seen with PESCO and the militarisation of the European Union, which is increasingly be foisted upon an Irish public which is overwhelmingly supportive of neutrality.
At its core the European Union only has one value at its core: profit by any means necessary.
Anyone who is a friend of Palestine must ultimately come to terms with the fact that the European Union is not a force for good. It upholds its purported values in exactly the same way that Israel upholds its epithet as “the only democracy in the Middle East”: by lying through their teeth.
The Irish people have shown that they stand with Palestine, now we must show that we stand against the arrogance of the European Union.