The Gaza Tragedy: Are Human Rights An 'Export Material' for the EU?
The Gaza Tragedy: Are Human Rights An 'Export Material' for the EU?

Summary/Abstract: The human rights policies of the EU have always been criticized severely. Many scholars blame the EU for using the concept of human rights as ‘export material’, and for developing contradicting attitudes at different places as well as at different times. It is argued that the EU has used the human rights conditionality pragmatically while establishing relations with the rest of the world at the international fora. From this point of view, the latest tragedy, which we witness in Gaza nowadays, has turned out to be a litmus paper for the sincerity of the EU’s human rights policies. It can be argued that all of the EC legislation is based on two basic pillars of proportionality and subsidiarity. While taking any kind of legal action, the EU first takes these concepts into consideration. Regarding the Gaza tragedy, however, it is the proportionality principle that the Israeli tanks tramped over. Yet, the EU’s reaction to this violation needs to be examined in depth.

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