The EU focus on sanctioning Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tells only a fragment of the story. Ben Gvir may be the face of Israel’s colonial dehumanisation at the moment, but Israel is the structure in which colonial dehumanisation is embedded.
In a letter sent to the European Council President Antonio Costa and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas last week, MEPs called upon the EU to institute a travel ban against Ben Gvir. “The recent horrifying video footage … represents a level of ruthlessness and inhumanity that the European Union can no longer ignore.”
Ben Gvir’s actions in the context of the Global Sumud Flotilla activists are certainly degrading and despicable. However, to say that the exhibited behaviour is so ruthless and inhumane that it cannot be ignored any longer by the EU is disgraceful in the context of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. We have all seen Palestinians torn to shreds, burnt alive, blasted into the air by Israel’s military technology. Photos of Palestinians blindfolded, stripped and awaiting torture have been circulated online since the early months of the genocide.
The EU is making an important distinction: the threshold for what is deemed inhumane and ruthless is much lower for the West than it is for Palestinians.
Ben Gvir’s actions against the Global Sumud Flotilla activists have not surpassed the genocide; they are part of the colonial dehumanisation that led to genocide.
The perpetrator’s accountability is only part of the process when it comes to holding colonialism accountable. While several member states have called for sanctioning Ben Gvir, the distortion lies in the EU’s refusal to sanction Israel. A lack of unanimity is another recurring problem. Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka said he would block sanctions on Israeli ministers or trade sanctions imposed on Israel.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever expressed his doubt that the EU would ever sanction Israel. It is simpler to focus on Ben Gvir, on settlers, on trade from illegal Jewish colonial settlements, than it is to address the fact that there is an entire colonial structure enabling the parts that the EU, or EU member states, might sanction.
For example, France and Sweden are pushing a proposal for trade tariffs and stricter import controls on Israeli products from illegal settlements. However, as French Trade Minister Nicolas Forissier stated, the proposal is “not an aggressive position”. Other countries, such as Ireland and the Netherlands, are also proposing restrictions and bans on products from Israeli settlements.
If there is no unanimity even on selected strands of Israel’s colonial violence, Israel’s impunity is not only strengthened but its violence is rewarded. Ben Gvir’s notoriety is not a novelty.
Given that there are less occasions in which dehumanisation can turn against non-Palestinians, it is also likely that this episode will fail to ingrain a new pay of politics within the EU. What stands out so far is that the EU is willing to go along with exploiting colonial dehumanisation and setting parameters for what is acceptable and what is not, depending on whether those subjected to humiliating, degrading treatment, are Palestinians, or not.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
