Ceasefire, yes. Now what about accountability for Israel's genocide?

For nearly two years we called to stop the genocide in Gaza. 

And now, the genocide suddenly stopped, as we all knew it will — by a simple decision of the Trump administration in Washington. Not by the United Nations, not by the orders of the International Court of Justice, and clearly not by any European government or the European Union, which were totally irrelevant.

It was only Washington that could decide when exactly enough is enough. Pax Americana. 

But pax means peace and this is just a ceasefire. A fragile one, as the Israeli regime may resume its military assault on Gaza in the coming months or in the coming years. We have seen some periods of relative calm already before, and that did not transform the situation in any meaningful way. 

Obviously, we welcome the ceasefire. In a way, we should be happy, and somehow, we even are. We can breathe again, in relief for the end of the daily killing, the starvation, the human suffering beyond imagination, beyond words. 

The fire has ceased. But again, this is only a ceasefire. Not peace. 

But most importantly, this much-needed and welcomed ceasefire does not change the simple fact that Israel has just committed a genocide in Gaza. We got so much used to this term now, that the G word has become almost normal. But let this acknowledgement sink in for a moment: Israel has committed a genocide in Gaza. 

Where do we go from here? 

The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948 has basically two parts.

First, preventing genocide, which the world, including European states, clearly failed to do, even though it is a clear legal and moral obligation.

So, we already failed in doing that. In fact, in many ways, European governments enabled and even supported this genocide, notably by delivery of arms to Israel and by providing the Israeli regime diplomatic and full political support — at least until very recently. 

The second part of the convention is about the punishment of the ones responsible for this crime of crimes. You do not commit a genocide and then simply go back to business as usual. Otherwise, this is normalisation of this crime. It shows everyone around that you can commit a genocide and get away with it.  

But this is exactly what the European governments and the EU are doing at this moment.

Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire? We freeze all the debate on possible sanctions against Israel.

They sign a deal? We go back to exactly where we were before with the EU-Israel association agreement and move on with our lives. 

This is impunity. 

As an Israeli, I often ask myself: how did we get here? How the Israeli society, in which I grew up, ended up in committing a genocide? 

Total impunity

Impunity is one of the first answers that come to mind.

For decades, Europe has granted Israel and Israelis total impunity, never holding us accountable for our crimes against the Palestinians: ongoing military occupation, the construction of illegal settlements in the Palestinian territories, unlawful killing, entrenching apartheid in the West Bank, the blockade of Gaza strip and the previous military operations there with thousands killed, and the list is long. Very long.

It is also this policy of impunity, this business as usual, this normalisation of occupation and apartheid, that brought us this disaster on us — Palestinians and Israelis alike.   

But enough is enough. We cannot afford to normalise genocide. 

Normalisation of these crimes is exactly how we got here in the first place. And if we do not change this pattern of impunity, the Israeli regime may very well go back to its criminal behaviour and practices, like criminals often do, committing the same crime again — against Palestinians in Gaza, and probably also in the West Bank, as it already started doing in the past two years. 

So, when we ask ourselves now what the next step is, the first step is rather simple: holding Israel accountable for the crime of genocide. 

And holding the European governments and leaders, and the EU and its leaders, for their complicity in this terrible crime. 

Accountability is necessary to stop these crimes from repeating themselves. The Israeli political leaders and military commanders who are responsible for the genocide must be brought to justice and punished for their crimes. 

We cannot just move on. Back to business as usual is not an option. Normalisation of the crime of genocide is not an option. And normalisation of the current Israeli genocidal regime is not an option either.

This regime must be held accountable for what it has done. Otherwise, they will do it again. 

European governments and the EU do have a role to play here in showing to the world, to Israelis and the Palestinians, to the Europeans, that those who commit a genocide will be held accountable. That a regime that commits a genocide is not a privileged trade partner with the European Union. And its representatives are not welcome in Europe. 

Any other option is more of the same – granting total impunity to the Israeli regime. And we have seen where it got us. 

Europe must hold Israel accountable for the Gaza genocide. 

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