For more than a year, new, horrific images of the violence in Gaza have been appearing daily. The situation is escalating, with Israel attacking Lebanon and not shying away from violence against United Nations (UN) peacekeepers. The stark contrast is that, previously, the Eindhoven city council took a stand in international conflicts, but now it remains silent.
For example, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian flag was raised, and the city council also agreed to break the city bond with the Chinese city of Nanjing on the grounds of an alleged genocide of the Uighurs. Such a position regarding the expanding conflict in Gaza and the Middle East has not yet been taken, not even after Mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem explicitly placed responsibility on the council when it came to whether or not to express support for Palestine.
Complex
“It is a more complex problem,” says Jacco Rubenkamp of Volt, who submitted the motion that severed the city ties with the Chinese city of millions. The Lower House had already labelled the situation in Xinjiang as genocide.
“The situation between Israel and Palestine is very different. And we want to avoid taking steps that will fuel Islamophobia or anti-Semitism in society. We believe that The Hague should stop supplying arms to Israel; we see that Israel is committing crimes against humanity. But it is also true that the trend in the country is pro-Israel.”
Genocide
GroenLinks also states that it is struggling with the subject. “As a faction, we are trying to think of a step we can take as a city to speak out about this in such a way that it has an impact. We can submit a motion to raise the Palestinian flag, but is that it? Does that help the Palestinian community in Eindhoven?” GroenLinks council member Gisèle Mambre wonders.
“But it is clear that something needs to be done. It is clear to us that genocide is being committed in Gaza. Forty thousand people have now been killed by Israeli violence, 17,000 of whom are children. We want to take action, but we need to make more of an impact than just raising a flag. As a faction, we are discussing how we can do that,” says Mambre.
Restraint
The VVD faction attaches particular value to that dialogue. “We do not solve the world’s problems here in the council,” says faction leader Lex Janssen. “What is important is that we continue to talk to each other, and I think that the mayor facilitates that conversation well.”
The faction does not believe that support should be shown to the Palestinians. “As VVD, we are always reluctant to do so. We would vote against it, not because we do not want to show our support, but because we do not think the municipal council is the right place for it.”
The fact that the VVD did vote to raise the Ukrainian flag raises concerns for Janssen. “There was little discussion about that at the time. The conflict in the Middle East is also more complicated. But with our current knowledge, we should perhaps have been more cautious about that.”
Dialogue
The PvdA also does not feel compelled to take action in the city council for symbolic support for the Palestinians. “The images that pass by are terrible every time,” says faction leader Patrick van Tuijn. “The UN posts that Israel attacks, the attacks on tent camps, the continuous dehumanisation of the Palestinians…”
“In the summer, we adopted a motion with which we want to prevent this conflict from polarising society,” Van Tuijn continues.
“We still stand behind that. With Tjeerd Ritmeester and Murat Karatas, we have two people in the faction who are on the other side of the conflict. They are working together to engage in dialogue to seek connection. They have already done that, among other things, during a debate at TU/e , and they will continue to do so in the coming period.”
For Eindhoven News: Beena Arunraj
Source: Studio040
