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Middle East Eye
5 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
UN's Albanese calls out 'appalling' EU failure to sanction Israel as 32-nation summit in Bogota kicks off
Over 30 states from around the world convened in Bogota on Tuesday for a two-day summit to declare 'concrete measures against Israel's violations of international law'. The 'emergency summit' is co-hosted by the governments of Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs of The Hague Group, to coordinate diplomatic and legal action to counter what they describe as 'a climate of impunity' enabled by Israel and its powerful allies. The Hague Group is a bloc of currently eight states, launched on 31 January in the eponymous Dutch city with the stated goal of holding Israel accountable under international law. The group is working on a joint declaration outlining a series of proposed actions to be announced at the end of the conference on Wednesday. At the opening on Tuesday, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, denounced the failure of the international system to protect the Palestinian people. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'For too long, international law has been treated as optional - applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful,' Albanese said. 'This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end. The law must either be universal, or it will cease to mean anything at all. No one can afford this selective approach.' Albanese also addressed the sanctions imposed against her last week by the US. 'These attacks shall not be seen as against me personally. They are a warning to everyone who dares defend international justice and freedom. This is not about me or any other single individuals, but about justice for the Palestinian people at the most critical juncture in their history.' 'Enough impunity' Framing the Bogota Conference as a watershed moment, the special rapporteur said: 'Here in Bogota, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity. The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace - grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.' Albanese concluded that the UN Charter and universal human rights instruments must remain everyone's compass. 'I trust that more States will align their policies with these fundamental principles as we move forward in this existential hour - for both the Palestinian and the Israeli people, and the integrity of the international legal order itself.' Riyad Mansour, Palestine's UN envoy, expressed his support for The Hague Group in his opening remarks. 'Israel must not be allowed to actively and practically take over the occupied territory of Palestine and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people while some states debate whether or not to recognise Palestine,' he said. 'Recognising Palestine is not a symbolic act – it is a concrete act of defence against erasure and an unequivocal rejection of colonial expansionism. State representatives attend the opening conference of The Hague Group summit in Bogota, 15 July 2025 (Progressive International) 'I stand here amongst many friends, representing states that took this principled step, understanding its significance – and importantly, matching this recognition with actions to curb illegal Israeli acts, including stopping the sales of arms and banning the trade in stolen goods from illegal settlements.' In addition to Colombia and South Africa, states attending the summit include Algeria, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Qatar, Turkey, Slovenia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Venezuela. EU stance 'appalling' At a press conference following the opening speeches, Albanese sharply criticised the EU's failure to reach a consensus on imposing new sanctions against Israel. 'It is clear the EU, for whatever reasons – be it affinity with Israel and its ideology, political convenience, or other interests including those of companies, as Europe is a huge trade partner of Israel – is putting the right to life of millions of people to the side,' Albanese said in response to a question by Middle East Eye. On Tuesday, the EU's 27 foreign ministers in Brussels failed to agree on the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. They also failed to agree on nine other possible measures against Israel put forward after it was found to have breached the human rights provisions of the trade agreement. Exclusive: Spain and Ireland to join more than 30 states to declare 'concrete measures' against Israel Read More » The measures that would have been agreed on Tuesday included full suspension of the agreement, suspension of its preferential trade provisions, an arms embargo, sanctions on Israeli ministers, or imposing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. While countries such as Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia have publicly supported imposing sanctions, others, including Germany, Austria, Czechia and Hungary, have expressed opposition. 'It is appalling. That agreement was a disgrace the moment the EU entered it,' Albanese said at the press conference in the Palacio de San Carlos, seat of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Colombia. 'The fact that it has been renewed in the face of the total destruction of Gaza marks probably the lowest point of the EU towards a policy, the celebration of double standards, and the betrayal of European values.' During her opening speech in Bogota, where members of The Hague Group - Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa - were joined by representatives from 25 additional nations and various UN agencies, Albanese called out the EU for its silence on Israel's onslaught on Gaza, which she has labelled a genocide. 'As a European, I fear what the region and its institutions have come to symbolise to many: a sodality of states preaching international law yet guided more by colonial mindset than principle, acting as vassals to the US empire, even as it drags us from war to war, misery to misery and when it comes to Palestine: from silence to complicity,' she remarked. Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, has called on all states to cut ties with Israel during a meeting in Colombia's capital, Bogota, on Tuesday — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 16, 2025 'The importance of this meeting convened by The Hague Group lies in moving from words to action and halting the genocide, drawing the world's attention to Palestine, defending the human rights system, multilateralism, and ensuring justice for the perpetrators of the genocide in Palestine,' said Colombia's vice minister of multilateral affairs, Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, on Tuesday. The group will discuss pushing for actions that include enforcing International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, halting arms supplies to Israel and blocking Israeli military-linked ships from their ports. The conference is co-chaired by South Africa and Colombia, the latter being amongst the most vocal global leaders in denouncing Israel's war on Gaza. Last year, Colombian President Gustavo Petro severed diplomatic relations with Israel, suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and swore in the first Colombian ambassador to the State of Palestine. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since labelled the Colombian president an 'anti-Semite' and a 'Hamas supporter'. South Africa initiated a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023, a move supported by approximately two dozen other countries. Israel's war on Gaza, increasingly condemned by experts and governments as a genocide, has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians and displaced almost the entire population since October 2023. The onslaught has left the Palestinian enclave barely habitable and has left two million people starving.
Middle East Eye
6 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
After Iran, will Israel target Pakistan?
When Pakistan's defence minister, Khawaja Asif, warned last month that Muslim countries must unite or else 'everyone's turn will come', it was less a diplomatic lament than a coded SOS. As Israel struck Iranian territory last month, and western leaders and media inverted reality by declaring Iran to be the threat, a chilling question emerged: who is next? You'd be forgiven for calling this paranoia. But after decades of watching nations demonised, delegitimised and dismantled in the name of 'global security', the pattern is too obvious to ignore. The West no longer needs tanks or UN resolutions. The playbook has evolved. Today, sovereignty is overthrown via headlines, economic chokeholds and narrative warfare. If that fails, the perceived well-being of Israel becomes justification enough for pre-emptive strikes. For once, give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu credit: he says the quiet part out loud. For decades, he has warned of rogue Muslim regimes gaining nuclear capabilities. Iraq was bombed. Libya was disarmed. Iran is being strangled. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters And Pakistan? That's the final frontier - not because it has invaded anyone, but because it represents strategic, ideological and technological defiance of western and Zionist hegemony. This argument is gaining traction. The Times of India recently amplified a report suggesting Pakistan is developing intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of reaching the US. No confirmation needed; the insinuation alone is enough to rally suspicions. Hollow narrative This isn't 2001. No one is selling 'weapons of mass destruction' on grainy satellite footage. But the ambition remains: to make Pakistan's nuclear capabilities look like a global liability. British tabloids and security think tanks now routinely describe Pakistan as an unstable state, susceptible to extremism and on a hair-trigger for nuclear escalation. A recent Daily Mail piece parrots a tired narrative: Pakistan's military leadership is supposedly on the edge of conflict with India, driven by zealotry, not reason. The commentary - attributed to yet another Indian 'security analyst' - paints Pakistan as morphing into an 'extremist Islamic state'. The West's problem with Pakistan is not what it's done. It's an Islamic republic, a nuclear power, and an ally of China. In today's world order, that trifecta is the ultimate red line Such claims ring hollow to anyone with even a cursory understanding of the region. Despite its many crises, Pakistan has never elected a religious party to power - not in more than seven decades. The electorate has consistently rejected overt theocracy at the ballot box. India, by contrast, has repeatedly and enthusiastically voted for a man widely believed to have presided over - or at best, turned a blind eye to - the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. That man, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now leads a party openly committed to the creation of a theocratic Hindu state, built on the marginalisation and scapegoating of Muslims and other minorities. Yet, in much of the British and western media, India remains the adult in the room - the rational actor, the democratic beacon. The hypocrisy would be laughable if it weren't so dangerous. Consider the events of this past April, following the tragic Pahalgam attack on Hindu pilgrims. India, without presenting credible evidence of Pakistani involvement, launched cross-border military action. Western media outlets largely accepted New Delhi's narrative at face value. Pakistani officials, meanwhile, were subjected to hostile interviews and again made to answer for the spectre of terrorism - a framing that has become depressingly routine. There is an unspoken but unmistakable logic here: Hindu nationalism, no matter how violent, is framed as a political choice - perhaps regrettable, but legitimate. Islamist politics, even when nowhere near power, are treated as an existential threat. Regional imbalance This isn't just lazy journalism; it enables impunity. By refusing to hold India to the same standard, western media reinforces a regional imbalance in which Pakistan is the perpetual provocateur, and India - despite its authoritarian bent - gets a free pass. This isn't just about fairness. It's about whether peace in South Asia can ever be achieved when one state's aggression is minimised and the other's very existence is seen as a threat. If the media wants to play a constructive role in the region's future, it must stop seeing it through the prism of prejudice and power. The idea of a nuclear Pakistan has long unsettled Israel, India and the Anglo-American security consensus. Now, publications like Modern Diplomacy openly suggest what policymakers might be strategising in private: once Iran is contained, Pakistan must be denuclearised. India's attack on Pakistan is a declaration of Israel-style expansionism Read More » The pattern is not just geopolitical; it's psychological. The public must be conditioned to believe that an Islamic republic with nuclear arms and strategic ties to China through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not a sovereign actor, but a threat to global order. It's not just Pakistan's nukes that provoke anxiety. It's Pakistan's orientation. As Islamabad deepens its ties with Beijing - especially via the CPEC - it shifts from postcolonial dependency to multipolar defiance. All roads in the 21st century lead to Beijing. The US knows it. Britain knows it. Israel knows it. And Pakistan's centrality to the New Silk Road transforms it from a regional irritant into a global pivot. Following the recent Iran-Israel flare-up, Pakistani army chief Asim Munir met US President Donald Trump at the White House - an encounter that raised more questions than it answered. Was it a charm offensive? A warning? A recalibration? Whatever the answer, it underscored Pakistan's uncertain place in the world: simultaneously courted and condemned, needed and distrusted. The West's problem with Pakistan is not what it's done. It's what it represents: an Islamic republic, a nuclear power, and an ally of China. In today's world order, that trifecta is the ultimate red line. Back in 2009, during a postgraduate seminar on the Mongol Empire, a professor slammed a map on the table and asked whether I - a British Pakistani - was aware of a neoconservative plan to balkanise Pakistan. He wasn't trying to provoke. He knew I loved the culture, followed the cricket team, and felt the pulse of the place. It was a warning, not a theory. Today, that map feels less like a conspiracy - and more like a strategy in motion. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Middle East Eye
11 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
UN expert on Palestinians says US sanctions are a 'violation' of immunity
The UN's expert on Palestinian affairs, Francesca Albanese, said Tuesday that Washington's sanctions following her criticism of the White House's stance on Gaza are a "violation" of her immunity. The United Nations' Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories made the comments while visiting Bogota, nearly a week after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions, calling her work "biased and malicious." "It's a very serious measure. It's unprecedented. And I take it very seriously," Albanese told an audience in the Colombian capital. "It's clear violation of the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities that protect UN officials, including independent experts, from words and actions taken in the exercise of their functions," Albanese said.
