Gaza has become the new academic currency for unknown academics who were unable to make a name for themselves through their research or work, and are now promoting themselves through public letters about Gaza. Their favourite scapegoat and target is the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, who is both deeply feared and equally hated by the governing Labour Party: this is a very easy way to curry favour with those in power.
The President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola is under increased scrutiny for avoiding to condemn Israel and describe its as actions as genocidal. Unfortunately, some of this scrutiny is being made by individuals who have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. A very common refrain, also used by Russian propaganda, is that the EU is not concerned with Gaza as much as it is concerned with Ukraine. Obviously, the EU is concerned with the defence of Europe and its member-candidates and the EU does not have the role of a super-power that aims to prevent conflicts and genocides outside its borders. I agree that the EU should take on this roleย but you can’t naively expect the EU to act as a superpower without military power and without being first unable to defend its own borders from Russia.
It’s with these preconceived myths that the Dean of the Faculty of Education wrote a very bizarre article on Times of Malta urging the President of the European Parliament to lead a humanitarian aid mission to Gaza and visit Gaza personally to lead the mission. Ironically, this is exactly what the President Metsola actually did in February of this year while also being the first ever European leader to visit Gaza in ten years. On the other hand, the tone of Colon Calleja’s article makes you think that he is demanding of the European Parliament President to physically push the humanitarian aid herself to Gaza all the while the IDF is intentionally preventing humanitarian aid from getting into Gaza and being delivered in the first place.
On a political and policy level, the EU’s stance on Israel should be addressed from the political parties in Parliament, and not from the President of the European Parliament who is supposedly a neutral mediator of European politics: this is also why the President of the European Parliament acts in its diplomatic role abroad to represent the parliament. Some people of letters still fail to understand that the President of the European Parliament can’t propose or push policies of her own.
This is also why the attention on Roberta Metsola with regard to Gaza, as we know her in Malta, is unmerited and mostly emanates from a local and partisan context carrying local political agendas. The President of the European Parliament is the last person in the top EU bureaucracy that is relevant on EU and European policy.
Surprisingly, no one batted an eyelid when recently President Metsola visited the United Arab Emirates: a state which is actively sponsoring an ongoing genocide in Sudan. It makes you think about the spurious letters on Gaza from academics who rarely get involved in any local issue. Surely, Sudan doesn’t seem to have much academic currency.
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