Europe’s stance toward the ongoing genocide in Gaza has exposed a deep moral and political crisis. Despite the mounting death toll, the widespread destruction, and the overwhelming evidence of systematic targeting of civilians, many European governments continue to extend both political and material support to Israel. Behind statements calling for “ceasefire” or “restraint” lies a quiet but decisive complicity, one that enables the machinery of devastation to grind on, unchecked.

Across the continent, European states have maintained arms trade, intelligence cooperation, and joint research with Israeli military-linked institutions, even as Gaza’s hospitals, schools, and refugee shelters lie in ruins. France, Italy, Greece, and Belgium have all allowed ships carrying weapons to pass through their ports, while the European Union remains the second-largest supplier of arms to Israel and its main trading partner. This partnership, under frameworks like Horizon Europe, continues to channel public funds into projects that directly benefit companies tied to the weapons industry, revealing a double standard that undermines Europe’s claimed commitment to human rights.

Symbolic gestures, such as the formal recognition of Palestine by some governments, have done little to change the reality on the ground. In France, for instance, recognition was stripped of any real consequence, no sanctions, no defined borders, no policy shift, and was quickly followed by instructions to penalise mayors who raised the Palestinian flag. Meanwhile, peaceful demonstrations in solidarity with Gaza have been banned in several capitals, and voices defending Palestinian rights have been silenced or smeared as “extremist.”

While Europe continues to impose sanctions on Russia for its war in Ukraine, it has not taken a single meaningful step to deter Israel’s actions in Gaza. This selective morality exposes the emptiness of the so-called “European values” when applied to non-Europeans. As Le Monde Diplomatique observed, this is not passive silence, it is active participation. Europe’s inaction, and in many cases its open collaboration, have helped sustain one of the most devastating genocidal wars of the modern era.