According to a recent social media post by the Finnish Foreign Minister, Elina Valtonen, Finland’s intention is further strengthening its relationship with Israel. This is despite Israel’s continuous human rights violations and other crimes against Palestinian people.
The Finnish government also supports Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government by strengthening cooperation with them. Israel, which has recently passed laws that are considered radical, will transfer some powers from courts to Knesset, giving the ruling party more comprehensive control over the country.
Laws passed includes:
- The law prevents legal authorities from declaring a Prime Minister unfit to rule and removing him from office. Only the Knesset and cabinet can force out the country’s leader.
- Another change is to eliminate the use of the reasonableness test by the Supreme Court when reviewing decisions made by elected officials.
Laws planned include:
- The government is discussing changing the process of selecting Supreme Court justices, with plans to increase the involvement of politicians.
- Supreme Court can only invalidate legislation if it violates Basic Laws.
- Allowing the Knesset to override judicial reviews of the legislation. Currently, the court’s word is final.
These recent events do not show a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Supporting Israel’s quest to fuel the situation further is a wrong move.
Israel’s future under strict authoritarian rule
With this power transfer, the ruling party can make good on its earlier intentions. This includes transferring the land, if Jewish settlers have built on it, from Palestinian ownership for public use or benefit, meaning that Israel can further increase its illegal occupation of land owned by Palestinians.
Critics fear that Israel will further deny fundamental human rights to Arabs, giving greater privileges to the ultra-orthodox community at the expense of other Israelis. Furthermore, the change will protect Netanyahu from charges of corruption. These changes in the law are in direct conflict of interest with the ongoing criminal charges he is currently facing.
There is now keen interest in what are those sectors where Finland and Israel are committed to deepening their relationship. How can Finland balance different programs that cover both sides of the ongoing conflict? If Finland does not condemn Israel’s military actions in the occupied territories and its practices of racial discrimination, what are the bases for cooperation between Finland and Israel?
double standard
/ˌdʌb.əl ˈstæn.dɚd/
“A rule or standard of good behavior that, unfairly, some people are expected to follow or achieve, but other people are not.”
A concise history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and missing resolution
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict began with the failure to implement the 1947 UN Partition Plan. It escalated with the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza following the 1967 Six-Day War.
The Oslo Accords of 1993-1995 made progress towards a two-state solution. However, final status issues remain, including the status of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, borders, security, water rights, Palestinian freedom of movement, and the Palestinian right of return. There are clear signs that Israel will be allowed to continue its illegitimate actions against Palestinians without interference from its closest Western allies.
The focus of peace efforts has been the two-state solution, which calls for establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. However, public support for this solution, formerly popular among Israeli Jews and Palestinians, has declined recently.
The conflict must be resolved and receive the final resolution before any civilian aid programs can uphold any permanent resolution. It is, therefore, mockery from the Finnish government that its declaration of deepening cooperation with Israel will result in anything more than the continuation of the dire conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Once upon a time, Finland was committed to bringing peace and order.
There are quite a few agreements and resolutions Finland has agreed upon. However, the question is, which ones is it going to respect, and to which extent?
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- European Commission, the law of human rights
- Cooperation between Finland and Israel
- The Constitution of Finland
- Finland’s relations and development cooperation in Palestine
The Finnish government can only respect some of these contracts or resolutions without causing conflict between the rest. Some of them must be appreciated, and some are necessary to continue the cooperation with both parties. Still, only one is needed to continue upholding law and order in Finland and elsewhere when adequately respected. Despite its good reputation for conveying peace between warring parties, there is yet to be an indication of whether the Finnish government intends to play a significant role in ending the conflict.
In 1989-90, the UN peacekeeping operation in Namibia ended the apartheid and helped Namibia to gain independence from South Africa. It was a respectable effort from Finland and other participants, which eventually created a lasting resolution between two warring parties, SWAPO and the South African government.
Israel and Palestine, two parties with a long history of violence lasting over a decade, continue the conflict with no end. There has been a severe need for a peace accord for a long time, but has the international community lost its morale? The Western countries continue to arm Israel, supporting its political ambition and fuelling the conflict. If those are stopped, and more humanitarian aid and diplomacy are provided, there may still be a chance for lasting peace.
Among other Western countries, Finland rejects the opportunity to seriously assist in delivering peace and shows instead preferentiality towards one of these warring parties.
Finland could be a forerunner in this and show an upright example of denouncing the actions of Israel as an illegitimate and direct violation of fundamental human rights.
