Gaza Genocide: Slovenia Becomes First EU Country to Impose Arms Embargo on Israel
Prime Minister Robert Golob announced the news on Thursday.
The decision has imposed an embargo on the export, import, and transit of all arms to Israel, to stop the genocide in Gaza.
Ljubljana had declared several far-right Israeli government ministers persona non grata last week. Slovenia recognized the Palestinian state last year in June.
Slovenia has been one of the main voices of opposition in Europe against the Israeli government. Now, they have become the first country to block arms sales.
President Natasa Pirc Musar had previously told the European Parliament that the EU needed to take much stronger actions against Israel, calling their war a genocide.
The Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon on Thursday said that Slovenia would keep all further measures on the table, 'We support the suspension of Israel's Accession Agreement, all trade sanctions, an arms embargo, sanctions against settlers, and ministers who support violence.'
Fajon also rejected any idea of consolidation or resolution between the two countries until the violence had stopped, and a ceasefire was announced.
Golob on Thursday said that Israel's actions constitute serious and intolerable violations of international law, saying that thousands of Palestinians, 'were dying because humanitarian aid has been systematically denied to them.'
This confirms recent announcements from the United Nations, which has stated that it believes that nearly half a million people could face famine before the end of September.
International pressure has grown consistently in recent weeks, with France, Canada, and the UK announcing that they would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel stops its war in Gaza.
This brave decision by the Slovenian government could inspire other European nations to make similar announcements. Tags: Genocide GazaIsrael genocide
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The quest to live better in a realm of uncertainties To the presumed 'a quality life' is associated another statement, 'poor living'. The candidates complain about everything. They belong to that category of people who see everything in black. This reminds me of the refrain of Claude Nougaro's 1975 song: « Sur l'écran de mes nuits blanches/Moi, je me fais du cinéma. » If insomnia is the main theme in Nougaro's song, the suffering of the unbearable daily routine is that of those people who lament over nothing in search of absolution for an ambition that has not reached its apotheosis. Suffering is associated with the propensity for denial and the refusal to try everything possible to revamp and start anew. Nothing satisfies this category of denialists, even when they succeed in their professional and family life, for example. More than the ambition to do better, they seek to surpass themselves in other ways. Some end up failing at everything. They then swell the ranks of the 'Never Satisfied', that breed of individuals who complain about everything, with or without reason. The brain drain that had been the common lot of many executives and senior officials is not solely explained by the lack of opportunities for advancement in their home country. There is certainly a tangible fact that can be brought forward to get a heated debate on the issue: the existence of obstacles, the generation conflict in the workplace, the gender dilemma, etc. However, put that way, the dilemma cannot summarize the whole issue. Because only a handful of people manage to obtain the same working conditions and pay compared to what they had or could have had in their homeland. The requirements for upgrading, or even resuming training, ring false in the minds of many of those people, who eventually become disillusioned. The temptation to return to their homeland is strong, but they don't have the guts to go that far, for fear that their relatives and friends would make fun of – if not despise – them. The COVID pandemic of 2020-2021 revealed a previously concealed fracture in a West grappling with its own contradictions. It gives nightmares to foreign populations in many Western countries, particularly in Europe and the United States and Canada. Vulnerability takes over from the assurances of appearances. The search for jobs becomes problematic. The much-desired integration becomes wishful thinking. Assimilation resembles some sort of inquisition. Fortress Europe – and soon Fortress America – is no longer a preferred safe haven for many foreigners. Then a reverse migration begins to timidly emerge. It is visible through two processes. The first process involves some European nationals choosing to settle in a country like Morocco, where job opportunities are abundant depending on job description and sector. The second process involves the return of several dozen Moroccan nationals to Morocco to settle there permanently. I do not have precise statistics on the two phenomena, but the trend has been accelerating for at least two years. Despite some resistance related to a rigid mindset, there is a renewed confidence in Morocco's potential, in the existence of opportunities, and in the political will at the highest level of the state to implement thoughtful and realistic development plans. We are therefore witnessing a kind of reverse migration that will undoubtedly gain momentum, now that Morocco is on a positive trajectory in terms of attracting foreign investments. Morocco is believed to be a must-pass for all those aiming at a multidimensional African policy based on community of interest and destiny. Similarly, another factor now seems to play a decisive role, particularly in Europe, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, to name just these areas: the influence of wokism trends that frighten North African and sub-Saharan foreign communities. The wokism they deem to be diverted from its initial mission of denouncing all forms of discrimination to include, with great fanfare, the issue of sexual preferences or gender in general, targeting children under the pretext of the right to a sound and equal opportunity to education. From temptation to the dilemma of identity clash If we take a look at the narrative pertaining to anti-Semitism, mandatory integration, and automatic assimilation, the picture describes the feelings of insecurity that now take on the aspect of an existential struggle. Even alienation is experienced by some communities as a form of schizophrenia that they cannot soundly assess. Hence, they deny it. Although it may be seen as a cliché, the issue of mixed marriages between Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, or agnostics might be included in this debate. However, it includes another element never frankly addressed before. Four or five decades ago, the topic of mixed marriages was addressed in relation to the cultural divide within mixed-faith couples, particularly concerning monotheistic religions. For the past few years, two phenomena have been giving parents a Scottish shower. On one hand, the mixed marriages of children that parents dread, believing that their children should not make the mistakes they feel they have made. On the other hand, there are the religious or agnostic preferences of the children who dismiss with a wave of the hand the narrative that has been conveyed for quite some time by parents belonging to different cultures and religions. I partially addressed this issue in a novel a few years ago (Hami H., Suicide à Distance, 2013). The dilemma of faith and religion emerges as a deep rift exacerbated by the political and religious divide. It is this tear that has been used by certain centers in power in North African and Middle Eastern countries to inject discord into people's minds. The most extreme case was that of religious extremist movements belonging to the three monotheistic religions and their ramifications. They used doctrinal and ideological ambivalence to challenge the political chessboards in the West and the East. Convinced they are right-doing, some decision-making centers, including intelligence services, used their fellow citizens with foreign roots as a means to bargain with the governments of the host countries in Europe and the United States. However, they ended up witnessing that the wheel of exclusion turned wrongly and targeted them in the end. So, mixed marriages that had been a kind of aspiration for emancipation to escape 'poor living' and have 'a quality life' turn into a psychological blockage whose main cause is the children who start challenging the whole arsenal of certainties and first truths. The quest for fast social ascension, despite the lack of means and the reality on the ground that had been legion five decades ago, has become a headache for parents and grandparents and an unbearable 'I don't care' attitude from children and grandchildren. A kind of reverse flight has begun without anyone raising the alarm (Hami H., La Fuite à l'Envers, 2005). The migration of foreigners, particularly Mediterranean Europeans, to Morocco is no longer limited to experts, teachers, and permanent residents, but it extends to categories of 'ordinary people' hit by the crisis in the Old Continent. It is certain that this trend will accelerate ahead of the organization of major cultural and sporting events in Morocco by 2030. Similarly, the rush of certain Moroccan professional categories toward Europe, America, or Australia for a hypothetical 'better quality life' has increased to the point they have become hostages to their children and grandchildren. This is a trend that has no convincing explanation. A truth that some can no longer hide: the children, even adults with a decent professional situation, are hardly offended by summoning their parents to send them money so that they can adapt to the high cost of living in the host countries. This is without ruling out the new forms of mixed marriage that bypass conditions that would never have been accepted three or four decades ago. It is also true that there are many marriage rules even in Morocco that bypass the same requirements. The dilemma of migration-immigration is still debated with the same intensity, but it depends on the evolution of people's mindset and the willingness of those in charge to take the bull by the horns. Hopefully the battle won't end up hurting. It goes without saying that the culture of denial and refusal to adjust to bare truths will be a permanent challenge. Arguments are becoming more frequent between parents about children's higher education, mainly on the best way to secure a high-quality one abroad. Beside the debate on the public and the private schools, parents are concerned and worried about how to make the appropriate choice to live up to their children's expectations. Parents then work hard, and some, even if they don't have the means, don't even hesitate to go into debt to send them abroad. They sell assets and hope that everything will go well. New generations of migrants are taking to the sea; it is not certain that they will be able to return, even if things do not go as planned. They may be tempted to swell the ranks of illegal migrants. And the parents will continue to bend over backwards to get them out of trouble. And if by chance some of them make the decision to return to launch projects or settle in their country, expressions like 'a quality life', 'struggling', 'saved', etc., ring in their ears like a bell of apocalypse. They are then blamed for having taken a dangerous U-turn. Be that as it may, they are holding on even though resettlement might be hard and bureaucracy temporarily hindering their momentum. However, things are improving, and hope remains; otherwise, why would there be more and more foreigners choosing Morocco as a safe haven, an ideal place to build or rebuild their lives? Nonetheless, some might be tempted to argue that I would have forgotten to talk about the new reality on the ground, namely that Morocco is becoming a place of residence for many sub-Saharan, Middle Eastern, and European foreigners. No, not at all; I just didn't want to talk about the same problems already mentioned above. At the forefront of these problems are the consequences of various forms of cultural and psychological clashes caused primarily by mixed marriages and apprehensions about 'quality life', 'poor living', 'being saved', and the impossibility of perceiving political, economic, and social changes without sacrificing to haste and hasty judgements. In any case, I would forbid myself to take that walk… At least, I hope so. Tags: morocan diasporaMoroccan diaspora
