Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
In light of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the European Union Commissioner for Sport, Glenn Micallef, hinted at the need to exclude Israel from sporting competitions.
In response to a question about how the sporting world should respond to the crisis in Gaza, Micallef said during a press interview with Politico that there should be "no place" in sporting events for countries that do not share the same values. The European Sports Commissioner condemned the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and said, "The sporting world needs to speak out about these issues," according to what was published by the European news network in Brussels, Euronews.
Micallef continued, "Sport is a tool we use to promote peace, and through it we promote human rights. The sporting movement is independent and makes its own decisions, but it is our duty and responsibility to express our feelings." “There has been bloodshed in Gaza, and civilians are paying the price,” said Micallef, who represented the Commission in a debate in the European Parliament on Wednesday on Gaza. “It is a catastrophe, to see so many children, civilians, and young people without food, without water, without access to humanitarian aid that should be widely available to the people of Gaza and Palestine,” he added, describing the situation in the stricken territory as “absolutely shocking.”
The sporting world has seen repeated calls to boycott Israel’s participation in international competitions, from the Olympics to the World Cup, although such proposals have been largely rejected so far.
The Jewish state’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has come under fire, with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling on May 19 for Israel to be excluded from such events, saying: “We cannot allow double standards, even in the field of culture.” Last week, a majority of European Union countries supported a review of the political agreement between the EU and Israel due to its attack on the Gaza Strip. European capitals such as Rome and Paris also recalled a number of Israeli ambassadors after Israeli forces admitted firing "warning shots" at a European diplomatic delegation visiting the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
In a related development, Euronews also reported that the British newspaper The Guardian published a letter addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer from more than 800 lawyers, academics, and retired senior judges, urging him to impose sanctions on the Israeli government and consider suspending its membership in the United Nations.
The lawyers and judges welcomed the joint statement by their countries, along with France and Canada, which almost warned of the possibility of "concrete measures against Israel," but the signatories of the letter called for "swift action in this regard to ease the pressure on the Palestinian people in Gaza." The signatories, including former Supreme Court judges such as Lord Sumption and Lord Wilson, judges of the Court of Appeal, and more than 70 prominent lawyers (KCs), condemned what they described as "war crimes, crimes against humanity, and serious violations of international humanitarian law in Palestine." They asserted that the failure to impose sanctions on Tel Aviv "endangers international law." They also pointed to the "mounting evidence" that Israel is committing "genocide in Gaza," or at least increasing the risk of such a thing. They cited statements by some extremist Israeli ministers, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who stated that his country "will wipe out what remains of Palestinian Gaza." They also cited evidence of the Netanyahu government's support for illegal settlements and its suppression of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which they described as the "backbone" of support for the Palestinian people. This comes a week after British Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced the suspension of negotiations on a new free trade deal with Israel and the imposition of sanctions on a number of settlers in the West Bank, a move the British government considered a protest against what it described as "Israeli practices in the Gaza Strip."
However, the letter from lawyers and judges states that London should not stop there, but rather review its entire trade relationship with Tel Aviv and impose sanctions on the government.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the growing calls for similar action, saying: "The accusation of genocide against Israel is not only wrong, it is outrageous, and decent people everywhere must reject it."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry also criticized previous British decisions, stressing that "external pressure will not deter Israel from its struggle for its existence and security." A Foreign Ministry spokesperson commented, "The British mandate ended exactly 77 years ago," referring to the end of Britain's role and London's past, which some consider "colonial."