Ahead of the recent French elections, pundits widely expected voters to punish France Insoumise for its strong pro-Gaza stance. It didn’t happen. Around Europe, left-wing voters are galvanized by parties who defy the pro-Israel mainstream.
Protesters in Slovenian parliament demanding sanctions on Israel, January 28th, 2024If at Harvard earlier this year students received their degrees in the colors of Palestine, in Paris this same flag was waved by France Insoumise MPs in parliament. Each set of images remind us of a different time: the 1960s and ’70s, when left-wing parties in Europe and the United States had close relations with the anti-colonial and peace movements.
Mobilizations for peace and for solidarity with the Palestinians have surely been growing over the last ten months, as the Israeli army pursues its massacre. In many European countries, student, anti-fascist, and anti-imperialist groups — as well as more traditional social justice movements and the radical wing of the trade unions — have formed the backbone of solidarity efforts.
But if the France Insoumise MPs’ action in the National Assembly made headlines, how much are Europe’s left-wing parties really bringing the Palestinian cause into the institutions? In truth, their record is rather mixed. Faced with this unique moment of popular protest at Israel’s war and their own states’ complicity, these parties’ stance is also a litmus test of their own political viability.
In Government
The recent recognition of the Palestinian state by the Spanish government was, in general, credited to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the center-left Socialist Party (PSOE). Much less has been said about the left-wing alliance Sumar, which is part of the ruling coalition together with Sánchez’s party.
Sumar can rightly claim paternity of this move: in the coalition agreement signed last year, it insisted on recognition of Palestine as a shared policy agenda. Under Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz’s leadership, Sumar insisted that this official recognition cannot be the beginning and end of Spanish government policy. More than that, it calls for cutting diplomatic ties with Israel and imposing a total embargo on weapons. These demands seem much less audible in media, mainly due to the focus on Sánchez.
The fact that the latest country to officially recognize Palestinian statehood — Slovenia — is the only other European state where the Left (the democratic socialist party Levica) is part of the governing coalition cannot be overlooked, either.
In fact, Levica, which holds three ministries in a coalition led by the liberal Freedom Movement party, has headed calls for Slovenia to be the first European country to join South Africa in its prosecution of Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Levica’s activism on this point in government echoes the demonstrations that have happened in recent months — reaching the premises of the Slovenian parliament, and even interrupting one session.
From the Streets to the Ballot Box?
For many left-wing parties, Palestine was also a key focus of June’s EU election campaign. From strong positions in their manifestos to supporting protests and direct action, they refused to limit themselves to what some of their colleagues euphemistically call a “balanced approach.” Instead, they opted to endure demonization by mass media and even the criminalization of their activities, in order to defend a pro-Palestinian line.
Ireland’s Sinn Féin has long-standing political relations with the Palestine Liberation Organization. It has consistently called for an end to the violence and occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, for recognition of the state of Palestine, and for a return to negotiations to achieve a two-state solution. In its European election manifesto, it made specific calls for a full EU-Palestine Association Agreement and building support among other EU states to join Ireland in formally recognizing the state of Palestine. Sinn Féin is also a longtime supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a mechanism for helping achieve this goal.
Political analyst Duroyan Fertl notes that “Because of the near-universal support for Palestine in Ireland, there is currently no tangible advantage to the Left [i.e., Sinn Féin] versus other parties on this issue, but further pressure can be applied.” That universal support could potentially be harnessed into further action at the EU level, especially if Sinn Féin wins the next national election. And yet, early this year Sinn Féin suffered backlash over its missteps on this issue. The delay in calling for the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador in Ireland, as well as Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald’s meeting with Joe Biden in Washington on St Patrick’s Day, prompted strong criticisms that seem to have forced the leadership to reassert a stronger position.
Sinn Féin’s support for the BDS campaign is shared by the Belgian Workers’ Party (PTB), whose EU election manifesto also mentioned this call. Like Sinn Féin, the PTB has a long tradition of supporting the Palestinian cause and has been a strong force in the regular large demonstrations across Belgium in recent months.
The PTB’s growing strength in national politics, coupled with its ardent campaign for Belgium to impose sanctions on Israel, has arguably been an important factor in shaping the national debate around the war. In particular it added pressure toward the condemnation of Israel crimes expressed by the current government and its official support for the ICJ ruling.
The same can be said for Norway and the pressure that both the Socialist Left Party and Rødt (“Red”) have built. As Peder Østring, a researcher at Oslo university, explains:
The historic recognition of Palestine by Norway was a result of this pressure, together with an active civil society. When Rødt raised the demand for recognition of Palestine in November, this did not get enough support to go through but there was a compromise saying that Norway would recognize Palestine at a later time when such an act could have “a positive effect on a peace process.”
The surprise created by the impressive EU election results for Finland’s Left Alliance draw attention to a campaign strongly focused on Gaza. In a recent interview, Li Andersson, who led its list, recognized the impact that campus occupations and the youth mobilization had on this result.
Still, it can hardly be said that this discussion on the Left is everywhere harmonious. In Spain, Podemos today sits in opposition after its eviction from the second Sánchez government last November. This party has been a strong critic of the current coalition for its “double standards,” recognizing the Palestinian state while not cutting diplomatic and commercial ties with the Israeli state that daily destroys this same population. It remains to be seen if recent news of Madrid joining South Africa in its ICJ case against Israel will leave Podemos as a recognized voice for the Palestinian cause, in a country where most people in any case tend to take a pro-Palestinian line.
In France, Emmanuel Macron’s presidency has seen a brutal surge in state repression against social movements, from the gilets jaunes to last year’s pension reform protests. Palestinian solidarity has been no exception, and early in October, demonstrations in support of Gaza were repeatedly banned and violently repressed. This spring, student occupations calling for universities to break ties and investment links with Israel received similar treatment.
Mainstream media has played an important role in criminalizing voices against the ongoing genocide, especially focusing in portraying left-wing France Insoumise as an antisemitic movement.
In this suffocating environment, France Insoumise has distinguished itself with unshakable support for Palestine, posing as a central political focus both inside and outside of the National Assembly. Its selection of Rima Hassan, a thirty-two-year-old French Palestinian lawyer, as a candidate for the European elections was part of its framing of its campaign as a vote for peace and against genocide.
The victory for the left-wing Nouveau Front Populaire alliance in July’s parliamentary elections, with France Insoumise in the lead, was the most recent demonstration that attempts to demonize its position are not working. During the campaign, accusations that France Insoumise is a “pro-Hamas” and “antisemitic” party were widespread in mainstream media, with founder Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s stance for Gaza labeled a way of winning a “communalist” “Muslim vote.” One TV comedian did an impression of Mélenchon wearing a djellaba and speaking Arabic, mockingly shown at Muslim prayer.
While other parties jumped on the bandwagon in attacking France Insoumise, its left-wing allies — notably the Greens and Socialists — mostly distanced themselves from this campaign of vitriol. Many media outlets predicted that these parties would be punished by voters for “colluding” with France Insoumise. Yet the ultimate result — with the Nouveau Front Populaire winning more seats than either Macron’s candidates or the far right — rebuffed attempts to isolate and toxify France Insoumise. Doggedly standing up for the Palestinian cause despite these attacks served to strengthen and mainstream its position.
False “Balance”
This is not to say that the ongoing genocide has created a new unifying cause for radical-left parties across the EU. France Insoumise is the biggest such force in Europe, yet not all parties have taken a similar line.
In Denmark, the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), has a history of support for Palestine. It has been outspoken about the crimes in Gaza and the only party to point out the Danish government’s responsibility through arms deals with Israel. But it has been slow in endorsing the regular large demonstrations, sit-ins, and student protests, in turn driving frustrations among its members. Some of the demands and language voted on during its pre-EU election congress in May — notably a sentence asserting Israel’s right to “defend itself,” months into the war — suggest that it is awkwardly “balancing” opposed positions.
Germany remains an outlier. The repressive institutional response to any display of solidarity or calls for peace has been shocking. The initial positioning of left-wing party Die Linke — including its leadership’s refusal to call for a cease-fire and to take a clear stand against Israel’s crimes — is often explained away as a response to the “specific German context.” Die Linke was built around the commitment to peace — but the shock over the Hamas war crimes on October 7 left it near-silent. Still, if the German historical relationship to Israel and its influence on reactions to the current war is well-documented, perhaps more attention should be paid to what most Germans actually think.
A recent poll showed a considerable shift in German public attitudes to the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza. If in November this “operation” had 63 percent polling support, now 61 percent are against. This trend should also be related to the massive number of German weapons daily used by the Israeli army to commit its massacres in Gaza.
We might imagine that the reality of the war and shifting public opinion would convince this left-wing party to change its stance, and back the urgent protests to oppose the war and Germany’s role in it. Has Die Linke done that? No. Its European election manifesto did not once mention Gaza, or any cease-fire call, let alone the suspension of the EU’s association agreement with Israel or a specific ban on exports of weapons. The fact that another left-wing party like MERA25 used the term “genocide” and called in its manifesto to “stop German complicity” shows that the political space for platforming Palestine solidarity does exist.
Die Linke’s choice to formally ignore this crucial issue raises many essential strategic and political questions at a time when it is constantly polling no better than 4 percent and lacks strong connections with larger organized groups or social movements in Germany. The contradiction is even more striking given that Die Linke has often spoken of a “movement” strategy that would allow the party to be seen as organically connected with a range of social issues. Its catastrophic result in the EU elections, on under 3 percent support, shows that in Germany, like elsewhere, left-wing voters will not be rallied by a deafening silence.
Confronting the Establishment
Still, across Europe, most meaningfully left-wing parties have decided to adopt a proactive stance on Gaza and to join the social forces advocating for peace and justice internationally. This has usually also meant having to mount a direct confrontation with both the ruling elites and the mass media.
Their EU election campaigns’ constant references to international law and alignment with countries in the Global South calling for a break with Israel and the United States are the sign that internationalism and anti-imperialism are returning as a central focus of left-wing politics in Europe. If the Russian invasion of Ukraine opened up divisions among the left-wing parties, the ongoing genocide in Palestine has, in the main, had the opposite effect. The few parties that decided to keep their distance from the Gaza issue and the protests, out of fears of exposing their own internal contradictions, have naturally been punished at the polls.
In recent years, opposition to the neoliberal structure of the EU was the common defining point of the radical left in its relationship to Europe and its core electorate. In the European elections, it seems that the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the complicity of the EU created a new such reference point. It remains to be seen if the results of the European elections and the longer-term effects of ties with the Palestine solidarity movement will help the Left join together at a genuinely international level. If an already weak left is seen to be stepping away from this battlefront, just as Syriza dropped the fight against austerity, we can imagine a similar end to the story — this time, at the expense of the Palestinians.
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