The European Union has repeatedly issued statements ranging from “deep concerns about” the Wall to “calls for” the halting of the confiscation of Palestinian land and the construction of the Wall. However, the words are hollow in front of the continuous support the EU gives Israel, even if this implies breaching its own laws. Surprising as it may seem, Europe – occupying rank number one for Israel’s imports and rank number two for its exports – has as much economic muscle in the region as the United States.

If it were not for support from the US and EU, Israel would not be able to bear the enormous expenses of the Wall as well as the Occupation. The EU countries have continued to export weapons to Israel even during the last three years, have been unwilling to reinstall an embargo on arms exports to Israel that was in affect until 1994, as it continues to grant Israel privileged access to the European market through the European-Israeli Association Agreement that began in 2000. Though this treaty is explicitly conditioned to respect human rights by all partners and excludes settlement products from preferential treatment as they are not produced on what is considered Israeli territory, Israel refuses to make any distinction between the products possible, falsifying certificates and not responding to the EU’s requests on this issue.

The European Union accepts these violations of its own laws for the sake of “good relations” with Israel. Every euro to the Israeli occupation economy is a euro in support of Israel’s agenda and policies of theft, dispossession and expulsion of the Palestinian people, now embodied in a dramatic way by Israel’s Apartheid Wall.