Call to Action: Suspend the EMA Internship for the Delegation of the EU for Israel
The Issue
21/05/24
Petition regarding the Internship at the European Union Delegation to the State of Israel in Tel Aviv
We, the student signatories to this petition, submit the following urgent request.
Every academic year, the Global Campus of Human Rights awards its fifteen top EMA graduates with a 5-month internship in a reputable host organization. This opportunity makes our human rights programme unique and is an important reason why many students choose to enrol in this programme.
It was, therefore, to our dismay and regret that we learned, on 20 May 2024, that among the internships was a collaboration with the European Union (EU) Delegation to the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. In view of upholding the credibility and esteem of our programme, we urgently request that the possibility of awarding an internship to one of our best students to the EU Delegation to the State of Israel be suspended.
Israel’s relentless killing of Palestinians in Gaza
With 35,000 Palestinians killed and 79,000 Palestinians injured, with 10,000 more reported missing or under rubble, and up to 1.7 million displaced, most multiple times, the numbers of Israel’s killing and maiming defy comprehension. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini says there are “[n]o words left that can do any justice to the people of Gaza.” In January, the International Court of Justice found that there is a plausible risk of genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.
On the 20th of May, on the same day our school circulated the organisations that will host the top students of our programme, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court applied for arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant in relation to seven charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The EU’s moral failure to help the Palestinian population
It has been over 227 days that the Palestinians are subjected to death by starvation by the Israeli forces.
As experts have claimed, the EU’s effective policy of unrestricted support to Israel’s supposed right to self-defence have ultimately helped to encourage rather than curb Israel’s onslaught.
In this system of “exceptionalism and double standards,” as held by UN’s Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, we submit that sending human rights students to the EU Delegation in Tel Aviv represents supporting the complicity of the EU in the crimes that are ongoing against the Palestinian people, and is not a signal of upholding the dignity of ALL human beings.
Cynical use of human rights
We are taught in the EMA programme that human rights systems operate in a political context. In Israel, human rights and human rights diplomacy have become a political tool to prop up the State’s supposed superiority over the Palestinians while brutally oppressing them. The human rights protection framework is undermined by sending human rights students to Israel, a state that has used force as a core component of its policies for the past 75 years.
Moreover, we find it irresponsible for the Institution to offer an internship in a conflict area where our physical security could be endangered. Taking into consideration that, after 7 October 2023, the opportunity for students to attend the second semester at the University of Beirut in Lebanon has been neglected due to security reasons.
As independent students and dedicated advocates for human rights, we will not stand for this collaboration, and we urgently demand the exclusion of the internship at the European Union Delegation to the State of Israel as a reward for our high academic results.
Remember to confirm your signature through the validation email sent to your email address.
The Issue
21/05/24
Petition regarding the Internship at the European Union Delegation to the State of Israel in Tel Aviv
We, the student signatories to this petition, submit the following urgent request.
Every academic year, the Global Campus of Human Rights awards its fifteen top EMA graduates with a 5-month internship in a reputable host organization. This opportunity makes our human rights programme unique and is an important reason why many students choose to enrol in this programme.
It was, therefore, to our dismay and regret that we learned, on 20 May 2024, that among the internships was a collaboration with the European Union (EU) Delegation to the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. In view of upholding the credibility and esteem of our programme, we urgently request that the possibility of awarding an internship to one of our best students to the EU Delegation to the State of Israel be suspended.
Israel’s relentless killing of Palestinians in Gaza
With 35,000 Palestinians killed and 79,000 Palestinians injured, with 10,000 more reported missing or under rubble, and up to 1.7 million displaced, most multiple times, the numbers of Israel’s killing and maiming defy comprehension. UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini says there are “[n]o words left that can do any justice to the people of Gaza.” In January, the International Court of Justice found that there is a plausible risk of genocide taking place against the Palestinian people.
On the 20th of May, on the same day our school circulated the organisations that will host the top students of our programme, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court applied for arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Gallant in relation to seven charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The EU’s moral failure to help the Palestinian population
It has been over 227 days that the Palestinians are subjected to death by starvation by the Israeli forces.
As experts have claimed, the EU’s effective policy of unrestricted support to Israel’s supposed right to self-defence have ultimately helped to encourage rather than curb Israel’s onslaught.
In this system of “exceptionalism and double standards,” as held by UN’s Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, we submit that sending human rights students to the EU Delegation in Tel Aviv represents supporting the complicity of the EU in the crimes that are ongoing against the Palestinian people, and is not a signal of upholding the dignity of ALL human beings.
Cynical use of human rights
We are taught in the EMA programme that human rights systems operate in a political context. In Israel, human rights and human rights diplomacy have become a political tool to prop up the State’s supposed superiority over the Palestinians while brutally oppressing them. The human rights protection framework is undermined by sending human rights students to Israel, a state that has used force as a core component of its policies for the past 75 years.
Moreover, we find it irresponsible for the Institution to offer an internship in a conflict area where our physical security could be endangered. Taking into consideration that, after 7 October 2023, the opportunity for students to attend the second semester at the University of Beirut in Lebanon has been neglected due to security reasons.
As independent students and dedicated advocates for human rights, we will not stand for this collaboration, and we urgently demand the exclusion of the internship at the European Union Delegation to the State of Israel as a reward for our high academic results.
Remember to confirm your signature through the validation email sent to your email address.
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Petition created on 21 May 2024