November 25, 2024
By Nasser Kandil
• Listening to the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, as he condemns the occupying entity’s violations of international law and its insistence on continuing the war despite global pleas, one is reminded of the statements issued by Arab and Islamic summits. However, the difference lies in the significance: when such positions come from a high-ranking European authority, they signify a shift. Meanwhile, the repetitive, formulaic rhetoric from Arab and Islamic circles often becomes a subject of ridicule and derision.
• The question posed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the Arab-Islamic summit – to its attendees – can equally be directed at the European Union: is the diagnosis of the problem and the proposed remedies correct, or is the inaction rooted in a failure to identify the appropriate tools and methods?
• While acknowledging the occupying entity’s violations, the weakness of international institutions, and their paralysis due to American collusion is valid, stopping there renders such statements meaningless. For them to carry weight, they must be accompanied by actionable measures and tools to translate words into deeds. Importantly, this does not necessarily imply military action.
• The core question remains the same: is the issue a lack of capability or a lack of will? As with Arab and Islamic states, the answer is a lack of will. Arab and Islamic countries possess numerous diplomatic and economic tools to pressure the occupying entity into halting its wars. Similarly, Europe also has significant tools at its disposal to enforce an end to the war. However, just as the will of the Arab-Islamic system is subjugated and paralysed when it comes to American influence, Europe fares no better.
• Arab and Muslim nations could shut down Israeli embassies and sever economic ties with the entity. Many Arab and Islamic countries maintain diplomatic and economic relations with the entity, which have become increasingly vital for the occupying entity amidst its political isolation following arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court and the economic blockade imposed by Yemen in the Red Sea.
• Europeans, for their part, wield even greater political and economic leverage. Popular boycotts alone have caused significant losses to the entity’s economy, how much more if such measures became official? Halting arms sales to the entity would be a severe blow, and placing diplomatic relations under scrutiny would amplify the pressure.
• Europe often justifies its inaction by pointing to the lack of decisive action from Arab states. But whom do Arab states blame for their own inertia?
• In both cases, Arabs, Muslims, and Europeans alike have collectively excluded themselves from the course of history.
