DaysofPal- A European petition calling for the suspension of the EU’s association agreement with Israeli occupation has reached one million signatures in just three months, a development described by Palestinian advocates as an unprecedented achievement for the Palestinian cause.
Majed al Zeer, president of the European Palestinian Council, told Sanad News Agency that the petition, launched by the Left Group in the European Parliament, hit the one million mark well ahead of the one-year legal window granted to it.
The initiative calls on the European Union to suspend its association agreement with the Israeli occupation over human rights violations against Palestinians, relying on Article 2 of the agreement, which allows for its review in cases of serious breaches of human rights and democratic principles.
Al Zeer explained that the EU petitions mechanism is not a purely spontaneous popular tool, but part of formal procedures within the European Commission, with petitions usually initiated and filed through political blocs rather than individuals.
He said the European Commission had entered into negotiations with the Left Group before formally approving the petition at the end of last year. The petition opened for signatures on 13 January and remains valid until 13 January 2027.
Under EU rules, a European Citizens’ Initiative must secure at least one million signatures from a minimum of seven EU member states, meeting a specific threshold in each.
According to al Zeer, the petition has “clearly exceeded” these requirements, both in total signatures and in the number of countries represented.
“It not only meets the required number in record time,” he said, “but also includes signatures from more than 10 European states, surpassing the national quotas. This reflects a qualitative shift in European public sentiment.”
He argued that the development shows that recent mass pro-Palestinian demonstrations across Europe “were not merely spontaneous protests, but have evolved into organized political action.”
Al Zeer described the momentum as a “historic and strategic turning point,” signaling a decline in Israeli standing internationally and a parallel advance of the Palestinian narrative in European and global public opinion.
With the signature threshold reached, he noted, the European Commission is now obliged to examine the petition, verify the signatures, and then submit it for formal discussion as an expression of popular will.
He urged Palestinian factions and civil society organizations to capitalize on this shift, and called for greater engagement with Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities in Europe and worldwide, whose growing role he described as “central” to advancing the Palestinian cause on the international stage.
Al Zeer said the rapid change in European attitudes reflects a deep reassessment of traditional positions in light of ongoing Israeli military operations, particularly in the Gaza Strip. European publics, he argued, no longer see events as a “conventional conflict” but increasingly as “grave violations that amount to war crimes.”
This shift has translated into broader solidarity, expanding protests in European capitals and mounting pressure on governments to adopt “more balanced and just” policies, he added.
Citing recent opinion polls, al Zeer noted an “unprecedented decline” in popular support for Israeli occupation across Europe, alongside growing sympathy for Palestinians.
This, he said, marks a qualitative change in Western societies’ understanding of realities on the ground.
He stressed that the change is beginning to filter into political institutions as well, visible in rising official criticism, scrutiny of partnership agreements, and debates over accountability for Israeli actions, despite ongoing reluctance to impose concrete punitive measures.
Al Zeer argued that continued Israeli policies, including blockade, starvation tactics and large-scale attacks on civilians, have undermined the Israeli narrative in the West and opened space for a stronger human rights-based discourse in European media and politics.
He concluded that this evolving European and international mood presents a crucial opportunity to intensify political and legal efforts in support of Palestine, calling for a unified message and effective diplomatic and media strategies to hold Israeli occupation accountable and work toward ending the ongoing genocidal war of Israeli occupation.
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