Amnesty calls on EU to respect ICJ and stop trade with Israel

Amnesty International yesterday called on the European Union to respect the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s advisory opinion on Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land and stop ‘business as usual’ with Israel.

In a letter addressed to the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, as well as the foreign ministers of EU member states, the rights organisation highlighted that the supply of arms and equipment to Israel, along with trade and investment with illegal Israeli settlements, violates the EU’s obligations under international law.

“The ICJ Advisory Opinion leaves no room for doubt. The Israeli occupation and its annexation of Palestinian territory are unlawful, as are its policy of establishing settlements, the confiscation of land and exploitation of the natural resources of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel’s discriminatory policies, laws and practices against Palestinians violate the prohibition of racial discrimination and apartheid,” said Eve Geddie, director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.

Calling for an end to trade ties and arms trade with Israel, Geddie added: “The Court’s findings clearly point to violations of international law committed by Israel and to the obligations of third states not to legitimise or provide any assistance to Israel’s illegal conduct.”

There can be no business as usual with a state maintaining a brutal, unlawful occupation and perpetrating serious violations of international law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, on a mass scale.

The EU’s call for a ceasefire and curbing settler violence “rings hollow until it takes concrete actions”, Amnesty stressed, calling on the trading bloc to impose “an immediate arms embargo; a ban on trade with Israeli settlements; and support for action at the UN to bring an end to Israel’s unlawful occupation.”

On 19 July, the ICJ issued an advisory opinion outlining that Israel’s settlement policies in the occupied Palestinian territories violate international law and it must pay reparations to Palestinians who have lost property and income as a result.

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