Brussels (Brussels Morning) – EU institution employees, including the European Council, held a silent march in Brussels to mourn Gaza casualties, decrying the erosion of European values and urging EU action to restore peace.
A group of employees working in European Union institutions including the European Council marched in silence in Brussels on Wednesday to lament the lives lost in Gaza and what they represented as the “death” of European values.
Are European Values Threatened by Gaza Conflict?
The civil servants, who defended their neutrality and the apolitical nature of the demonstration, stated that the core values of human dignity, peace and the rule of law that they were employed to uphold are being violated in Gaza and that the EU is required to act.
The demonstrators also stated that as a peace scheme, the EU has a responsibility to contribute more towards international measures to bring peace back to war-torn Gaza. In a symbolic “funeral”, body bags were laid down to illustrate the burial of international law, the EU Treaties, and the Genocide Convention. A cross carrying the words “RIP to never again” was seated next to the body bags, as demonstrators expressed the Genocide Convention was being undermined.
There were no flags or warnings of political affiliation to be seen as staffers held a minute of silence to grieve the Palestinian lives lost in the conflict in Gaza. The death toll now amounts to some 35,000, according to the Hamas-run authorities. It is the second such protest in Brussels’ EU quarter since the conflict flared following Hamas’ October 7th attack on Israel.
What Message Did EU Employees Send About Gaza?
“This peaceful assembly has been brought together by hundreds of civil servants and of staff working within the EU institutions and around the EU institutions,” stated Manus Carlisle, a European Commission staffer and one of the march’s organisers.
More than 100 staffers were believed to be attending the march, with organisers yet to confirm the official numbers. “We’re here to stand up for those values and those principles that we all hold so very dear and that we feel are not being held up when at the moment when the onslaught continues in Rafah, in Gaza, in the West Bank,” he added.
Protests against Israel’s continuing offensive in Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis have over the past days taken heart in universities across the bloc, many of which call for the suspension of EU partnerships with Israeli universities.
Did EU Staffers Call for Change in Gaza Policy?”
An EU spokesperson restated on Wednesday that the bloc’s collaborations with Israeli universities under the Horizon Europe programme must comply with “ethical principles”, and that entities in Israeli-occupied territories were not eligible. Sara, one of the EU officials participating in the demonstration, told Euronews that EU leaders needed to “go further”. “I am here as someone who works every day to make the EU a better place, and the EU cannot be a better place if the world is not a better place,” she said.
“We as the European Union have a huge responsibility towards Gaza, towards Palestine,” she contended. “We cannot tolerate the hatred, we cannot tolerate the violence, we cannot tolerate this genocide.”
