The real purpose of the EU sanctions

Northwestern Law Professor Eugene Kontorovich has a level-headed piece explaining the meaning of last week's European Union decision regarding Judea and Samaria. More importantly, he looks into some of the motivation behind it.

Indeed, the Europeans’ own conduct proves that this is not about implementing international law. Many countries in the region occupy foreign territory and even establish settlements there. The most obvious example is Turkey’s occupation of Cyprus; others include Morocco’s subjugation of Western Sahara, the EU’s fellow “Middle East Quartet” member Russia’s recent conquest of parts of Georgia, and Armenia’s in Azerbaijan. In none of these cases has the EU promulgated such guidelines – even when it concerns the ongoing Turkish settlement enterprise in the territory of Europe itself. So whatever “law” the EU thinks mandates the Israel rules, it is clearly a law for one nation only.

Moreover, the guidelines contain a massive exception that undermines the notion that this is about international law rather than EU foreign policy. Article 15 exempts groups that “promot[e] the Middle East peace process in line with EU policy.” Either the Geneva Conventions and related rules prevent Israelis from having anything to do with the West Bank or they do not – but they certainly do not contain a “things the EU likes” exception. The exemption reveals the true purpose of the rules: to promote European foreign policy, not to vindicate international law. Indeed, the essence of the rule of law is about applying general rules to similar cases, regardless of one’s sympathies. The application of unique rules to Jewish State is the opposite of lawful.

Read the whole thing.