Not In Our Name : A letter to the Presidents of the European Commission, Parliament, and European Council

We are a group of EU civil servants and other staff who are concerned about how little (if anything) the EU is doing to address the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza. We believe that this ongoing inaction is contrary to the EU’s core values and its aim to promote peace.

For this reason, we have drafted a letter with a number of demands. The letter was sent to the Presidents of the European Commission, the Parliament, and the European Council on 23 May, with more than 200 signatures. 

We plan on sending it again every time we reach major signature milestones. Therefore, if you, too, don’t feel represented by the EU’s continued failure to take a stance against this humanitarian catastrophe, please consider signing. Note that this letter is intended to be signed solely by EU staff (including trainees).

Update 21 June 2024: 1589 signatures

Dear Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, 
Dear Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, 
Dear Charles Michel, President of the European Council,

We are a group of EU civil servants and other staff working at the institutions and agencies of the European Union. We are writing to you in our personal capacity as EU citizens to express our growing concern over the EU’s inaction in the context of the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

Following the heinous attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which we condemn in the strongest terms, Israel has been carrying out a response which, by virtue of its disproportionality and lack of elementary humanitarian considerations, is not only in breach of international law, but also, as such, contrary to the EU’s core values and its aim to promote peace.

We do not question a State’s right to defend itself. However, said right needs to abide by the principles of proportionality and necessity and respect elementary considerations of humanity. The Israeli Defense Forces’ response to the 7 October attack infringed all these principles. Indeed, the fact that, at time of writing, more than one in every one-hundred people in Gaza has perished, and that an estimated 70% of these were women and children, suggests that the Israeli forces’ response to the 7 October attack represents a collective retaliatory measure, rather than the exercise of any right envisaged in international law. Indeed, the International Court of Justice, in its Order of 26 January 2024, concluded that the perpetration of genocidal acts by Israel against the Palestinians in Gaza is plausible.

Meanwhile, independent non-governmental organisations such as Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly called for a ceasefire. The EU’s inability to respond to these increasingly desperate calls is in clear contradiction with the values that the EU stands for and that we stand for.

Furthermore, beyond the horrific local consequences in Gaza, the EU’s continued apathy to the plight of the Palestinians runs the risk of indirectly contributing – through inaction – not only to the spread of polarising narratives, but also to normalising the rise of a world order where it is the sheer use of force, as opposed to a rule-based system, that determines state security, territorial integrity, and political independence – or the lack thereof.

It was precisely to avert such a grim world order that our grandparents, witnesses of the horrors of World War II, created Europe. To stand idly by in the face of such an erosion of the international rule of law would mean failing the European project as envisaged by them. This cannot happen in our name.

For all the above reasons, we ask that the EU:

1. officially calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza; 
2. officially calls for the release of all hostages; 
3. condemns the international crimes and human rights abuses committed by each and every party to this conflict, as reported and documented by independent organisations such as Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, and Human Rights Watch;
4. ensures a halt to Member States’ arms exports to Israel, be they direct or indirect;
5. reviews political, economic, scientific, and technological cooperation between the EU and Israel, such that it becomes conditional – not only in theory but also in practice – on the respect of human rights and the respect of democratic principles (in accordance with Article 2 of the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement between the EU and Israel).

We would like to emphasise that the above demands do not stem from a partisan stance towards the conflict, but rather from our deep wish that the EU’s actions be in line with its core values as regularly expressed by its top officials and with its aim to promote peace as enshrined in the Treaty of the European Union.

Confident that our voice will be heard and hoping to contribute to the formulation of a better European response to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, we thank you for your attention.