https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250910-more-inaccuracies-from-the-eu-to-serve-israels-narrative/
More inaccuracies from the EU to serve Israel’s narrative
Ramona Wadi September 10, 2025
Global Sumud Flotilla struck by a drone [Screenshot/Anadolu Agency]
Less than a day after the EU warned against the humanitarian aid flotillas to Gaza, the Global Sumud Flotilla was hit by a drone in Tunisian waters. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese warned that if the attack is confirmed, “there has been an attack on Tunisia.”
“We don’t encourage flotillas like this,” EU Spokeswoman Eva Hrncirova stated, “because basically they can escalate the situation, and they also put their participants at risk.” According to Hrncirova, delivering humanitarian aid should be done through official organisations. “We keep the channels with Israel open, and we talk to the Israel authorities.”
The EU’s aversion to the humanitarian aid flotillas, symbolic as they are, can only be matched to the aversion it has to actually forcing Israel to ending the genocide. Humanitarian aid can be argued about infinitely, but the genocide can be stopped and, as a result, humanitarian aid, despite its limitations, can be improved.
The entire world can decipher this, but the EU is now portraying flotillas as a dangerous act that can “escalate the situation”. But how can a symbolic act be dangerous when the real danger lies in the politics of impunity? The EU, for example, is yet to decide whether to use the word genocide to describe “the situation”, in a non-binding resolution to be negotiated this evening. A non-binding resolution carries no weight to stop the genocide in Gaza– only impunity for Israel.
A non-binding resolution is also symbolic, but unlike the symbolism attached to the Gaza-bound flotilla, which is to highlight the Israeli-imposed starvation on Palestinians, the non-binding resolution is symbolic of the EU’s predetermined inaction.
It is clear for anyone to see that the EU will tackle the most negligible issues and still make no headway, adopt the Israeli narrative on the humanitarian aid flotillas, while pretending to engage with Israel on humanitarian relief in genocide. A contradiction if there ever was one.
How is a flotilla dangerous when the EU is still calling upon the Israeli authorities – futilely of course – to remove logistical issues for swifter delivery of aid. Who is really hampering aid distribution – Israel or the flotilla?
Impeding activism when world leaders are doing nothing to stop the genocide in Gaza will not work. The less work politicians do, the more activists will take it upon themselves to enforce change, at times at great peril to themselves, thanks to the politics that not only deter, but also criminalise, activism.
If the EU has declared flotillas dangerous, despite the symbolic action, what is the next step? How can a flotilla determine Israel’s savage genocide, or escalate it? Western complicity does that.
The humanitarian aid flotillas illustrate that the world is not doing anything for Gaza. The EU has determined the symbolic action dangerous. What new rules are being written while Israel enjoys cover for its colonial expansion?
UN experts are begging the UN to act before the General Assembly meeting this month. More than 2000 Palestinians have been killed at aid distribution sites. Meanwhile, for the EU, a humanitarian aid flotilla under constantly under surveillance can purportedly escalate the genocide. Can EU representatives string a sentence that holds accurate meaning for once?