NOVANEWS
by Ali Abunimah
Finland’s Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja has strongly criticized Israel’s practices against Palestinians and declared that “No apartheid state is justified or sustainable” in comments made during a lecture in Helsinki, according to the leading Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat.
“If you are occupying areas inhabited by… Palestinians who do not have the same rights as the Israelis in Israel, that is apartheid and that is not sustainable,” Tuomioja said, according to Agence France Presse, adding, “I think that the majority in Israel has also realized this but they have been unable to provide a leadership that (can) move forward on the two-state solution.”
Will strong words lead to action?
While Tuomioja’s words are perhaps the strongest ever uttered by an EU foreign minister on the subject of Israeli apartheid, will they be turned into appropriate action?
Finland, despite Tuomioja’s declaration, continues a brisk arms trade with Israel in violation of EU regulations. Recently the country decided to proceed with a purchase of Israeli unmanned aerial drones of the type Israel uses to carry out extrajudicial executions and other war crimes.
Ironically, when in opposition, Tuomioja himself signed a Finnish civil society petition, along with dozens of other prominent public figures, calling for an end to the country’s arms trade with Israel.
But, as Finnish activist Bruno Jäntti wrote for The Electronic Intifada last July:
Finnish policy makers’ choice to persistently offer new military contracts to Israel is part of the legitimization of Israeli illegalities and a culture of unaccountability, which are characteristic of the EU and US’ approach toward Israel. The military trade with Israel doesn’t quite contribute to the ending of the conflict, either, yet this is officially the stated aim of the Finnish government’s Middle East policy.
As the total value of the arms trade between Finland and Israel approaches 200 million euros, the continuing military transactions have imposed collective responsibility and therefore complicity on Finnish taxpayers.