The new Middle East / Policy Brief
Is the EU losing credibility in Palestine?
21/06/2010 By Daniela Huber
EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton was quick to condemn the May 2010 Israeli attack on the Gaza Flotilla, calling for Israel to lift the blockade. This would be a welcome first step to improving the living conditions in Gaza, but the EU could do more than this.
The divide in Palestinian society prevails, further complicating matters. The EU should actively support a Palestinian reconciliation process, calling for the postponed municipal and national elections to take place without further delay.
This Policy Brief by Daniela Huber explores Palestinian attitudes to the EU’s democracy promotion agenda in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and finds that by focusing on civil society capacity building, the EU could re-energise its approach and begin to win back some of the credibility it lost after its political boycott of Hamas.
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Keywords
Civil society European Union Gaza Strip and West Bank Middle EastBio author: Daniela Huber
PhD Candidate. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
