The European Union (EU) portrays itself as a leading champion of human rights and the rule of law, both within its borders and around the world. However, the responses of EU member states to the escalation of the Israel–Palestine conflict in October 2023 make it clear that such a portrayal lacks substance.

Following attacks by Hamas, an armed group based in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, that killed 1,139 people in Israel, EU member states loudly and firmly declared their solidarity with Israel. In the subsequent Israeli assault on Gaza, as of December 1, 2024, 45,226 deaths have been confirmed. Nearly 70 percent of the dead in Gaza are women and children. In January 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found it plausible that Israel was committing acts of genocide in Gaza. Yet European governments’ stance toward Palestinians and their supporters has been far from united. On the contrary, many European governments have severely restricted the rights to expression and assembly, particularly for those expressing support for Palestine, with civil society organizations calling the level of restrictions “unprecedented.”

This article explores how and why these rights are being restricted in Europe.

Police raise batons toward demonstrators supporting Palestine. Amsterdam, the Netherlands (November 2024) (Photo: pmvfoto / Shutterstock.com)

Freedom of expression and assembly

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees freedom of opinion and expression (Article 19) and freedom of peaceful assembly and association (Article 20). The freedom of assembly includes the right to demonstrate peacefully. Because assemblies for the purpose of demonstration are recognized as a human right, governments are considered to have an obligation not to interfere with such activity. If, by their nature, scale, or duration, demonstrations may affect others in society, prior notification to the authorities may be required so that traffic management and security can be arranged. However, this does not mean demonstrations are subject to the authorities’ approval or permits.

The rights to expression and assembly are also enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, which entered into force in 1953. All member states of the Council of Europe are parties to this convention. Moreover, European governments and the EU often actively seek to promote these rights around the world. The EU calls itself a “strong defender of human rights” and a “champion of a rules-based international order” abroad.

Yet these rights have not always been upheld within Europe itself. For example, many countries, to varying degrees, have laws that restrict the right of assembly. According to a 2024 study by Amnesty International covering 21 European countries, Ireland is the only country with a system in which notification for all forms of assembly is voluntary. All other countries have enacted laws requiring notification for certain kinds of demonstrations. In all or parts of Belgium, Luxembourg, Sweden, and Switzerland, certain demonstrations require permits, and the authorities in practice have the power to refuse them.

Courtroom of the European Court of Human Rights (Photo: Djtm / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0])

The issue of antisemitism

Decades of conflict between Israel and Palestine have had a major impact on freedom of expression and assembly in Europe. In connection with this conflict, antisemitism has been a problem in Europe, and definitions and interpretations of antisemitism sometimes prompt restrictions on these rights. Historically, antisemitism has manifested in Europe as an extremely violent form of discrimination. In particular, during World War II, millions of Jews were killed in the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany because of their ethnic and religious identity.

However, the definition of antisemitism in Europe has come under criticism. In 2005, the EU Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) unofficially adopted a “working definition” of antisemitism. This definition included not only hostility toward Jews, but also vilification of the State of Israel as examples of antisemitism. The EUMC was replaced in 2007 by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), and in 2013 the working definition was removed from its website.

Since 2016, 25 EU countries have adopted the working definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Yet this definition has also been strongly criticized, as some of its examples suggest that certain criticisms of the State of Israel are antisemitic (※1).

The conflation of antisemitism with criticism of Israel has affected freedom of expression and assembly in Europe. For example, according to Human Rights Watch, in Berlin, Germany, planned pro-Palestinian demonstrations were unilaterally banned in 2022. One reason given was that earlier demonstrations had included speech that denied “Israel’s right to exist.” On that basis, Berlin police judged there was a risk of “inflammatory and antisemitic statements.” Some people demonstrated despite the ban, and several participants were arrested, including a woman for chanting “Free Palestine.”

Demonstration calling for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against companies linked to Israel, Germany (Photo: Montecruz Foto / Flickr [CC BY-SA 2.0])

A broad interpretation of antisemitism has also affected the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Launched in 2005, BDS promotes applying economic pressure on companies and organizations complicit in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and discrimination against Palestinians inside Israel. Begun by a coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations, it has now become a large global movement. However, many European countries have taken steps to restrict such activity, and in 2019 Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany passed measures deeming BDS antisemitic.

Freedom of expression restricted online

Beyond street protests, the BDS movement has also had a significant presence online. In response, Israeli government bodies, including the intelligence agency Mossad, have moved to disrupt it. As a result of influence operations partly funded and staffed by the Israeli government, from 2017 to 2022 a “troll army” (※2) was organized via a smartphone app (Act.IL) to counter BDS online. This group appears to have set up an office in the United Kingdom as well.

Not limited to Europe, social media platforms have also played a major role in restricting speech about Palestine. The Israeli influence operation mentioned above is believed to have been involved in mass-reporting campaigns against pro-Palestinian posts to have them removed. The Israeli government has also regularly contacted platforms directly, requesting removal of specific content it claims incites violence. According to a 2016 announcement by the Israeli government, Facebook complied with 95 percent of such requests, and Google (owner of YouTube) with 80 percent compliance.

However, it is clear that many of the posts removed by platforms did not incite violence but were expressions of peaceful solidarity and protest by artists and activists, and even by major news outlets. There are also reports that posts are automatically deleted simply for containing certain keywords related to Israel–Palestine. Academia has been affected as well. For example, in 2021 Zoom, together with Facebook and YouTube, blocked an online academic event on freedom of expression in Palestine.

Gaza devastated by Israeli airstrikes and the ground invasion (March 2024) (Photo: ImageBank4u / Shutterstock.com)

Escalation of the Gaza conflict and Europe’s response

The Israel–Palestine conflict has continued since Israel’s establishment in 1948, particularly since Gaza and the West Bank, which comprise Palestine, were occupied by Israel in 1967. Since 2007, Hamas, which has governed Gaza, has fired large numbers of rockets at Israel, and Israel has carried out airstrikes and incursions into Gaza. The conflict escalated most dramatically from October 2023, when Hamas launched an armed incursion into Israel, and Israel responded with large-scale airstrikes and a ground invasion of Gaza.

Amid this escalation, reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe increased. At the same time, restrictions on the rights to expression and assembly began to tighten across Europe.

For example, after Israel began its airstrikes on Gaza, pro-Palestinian protests were planned and held in many European countries, but France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland quickly took steps to ban or restrict them (※3). These protests were typically not banned due to unlawful conduct, but unilaterally prohibited for vague reasons such as maintaining “public order” or “security.” Six months into the conflict, bans on pro-Palestinian protests were also reported in seven more countries: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, and Sweden.

In addition, bans on Palestinian symbols—namely the Palestinian flag and the traditional Palestinian scarf (the “keffiyeh”)—were reported in Germany, Italy, and Spain. In the United Kingdom, the government warned that waving the Palestinian flag could be a criminal offense if used in a way that causes “harassment, alarm, or distress.”

Police arrest and cover the mouths of demonstrators supporting Palestine. Amsterdam, the Netherlands (November 2024) (Photo: pmvfoto / Shutterstock.com)

Despite such restrictions, many protests took place across Europe. Some were dispersed, and in doing so, there were numerous reports of excessive and unwarranted police force—for example, on university campuses in Germany and the Netherlands.

Amid the escalation of the Israel–Palestine conflict, several journalists were arrested in Europe. Most notably in the UK, at least three journalists were arrested on terrorism-related charges. Under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, “expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive” of an organization proscribed as terrorist is criminalized. The political wing of Hamas has been considered a terrorist organization in the UK since 2021. It is unclear what crimes these journalists actually committed, and the arrests have been strongly criticized by various groups. For example, the UK’s National Union of Journalists has called the arrests a “misuse of anti-terror laws.”

Tightening regulations on social media

As noted above, several investigations have shown that large volumes of pro-Palestinian content have long been suppressed by social media platforms. And with the escalation of the Israel–Palestine conflict in 2023, these restrictions appear to have grown even tighter.

For example, an investigation by Human Rights Watch found that in October–November 2023, there were over 1,000 instances of “unjustified removal or other suppression” of Palestine-related content on Instagram and Facebook. The platforms were found to rely excessively on automated methods and broad, vague terms to remove content at scale. One year after the escalation, in October 2024, several human rights groups warned that there had been little improvement in this “digital censorship” and sounded the alarm about the scale of censorship on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube.

At a demonstration in Brussels, Belgium, flags depict watermelons instead of the Palestinian flag (October 2023) (Photo: M0tty / Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0])

To circumvent such censorship, many social media users are adjusting even the words or emojis used in their posts. For example, noticing that posts containing the Palestinian flag emoji were often removed, many users have replaced it with a watermelon slice emoji. Chosen because its red, green, white, and black colors match those of the Palestinian flag, the watermelon has long been used as a stand-in where flying the flag is prohibited.

One background factor in this tightening is unilateral action by the platforms themselves. For instance, in 2024 it became public that a former Israeli government official employed by Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, lobbied internally to remove Instagram posts by pro-Palestinian groups. It has also been documented that former NATO officials are employed at platforms like Facebook and TikTok in positions able to restrict content.

However, platforms are also under direct pressure from governments. As noted, the Israeli government has requested the removal of large numbers of posts and accounts, and platforms appear to comply with the vast majority of such requests made. Pressure comes from within Europe as well. European governments, in particular, have actively demanded that platforms remove or regulate content they deem harmful.

For example, after the escalation of the Israel–Palestine conflict in 2023, the European Commission sent letters to major social media platforms, calling on them to respond promptly when receiving “notifications of illegal content in the EU.” It also emphasized the need for strict compliance with the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA, which took effect in August 2023, aims to compel social media platforms and search engine companies to moderate not only illegal content but, in some cases, content that is “legal but harmful,” as defined. Companies deemed non-compliant face severe fines.

European Commissioner Thierry Breton (Internal Market) (left) confers with NATO’s Secretary General (right). During Breton’s tenure, he notably urged social media platforms to self-regulate (Photo: NATO / Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Individual countries have taken measures as well. In Denmark, for instance, under the Terrorist Content Online (TCO) regulation, removal orders for online content had required court review. In 2024, however, the parliament agreed to scrap this requirement, citing the need to counter antisemitism.

Background to the clampdown

The suppression of freedom of expression and assembly regarding Palestine in Europe can be linked to the political stances chosen by European governments. But Europe is far from unified on this issue. For example, the governments of Germany and Hungary have positioned themselves as staunch supporters of Israel. By contrast, governments such as those of Norway, Spain, and Ireland have tended to be more sympathetic to the Palestinian people overall. Government positions are fluid, however, and can shift depending on the government of the day or events in and around the conflict zone.

European positions are also reflected in their stance on Palestinian statehood. As of November 2024, 146 countries (75 percent of UN member states) recognize Palestine as a state. Europe stands out as one of the few regions where a majority of countries do not. In the first half of 2024, Norway, Ireland, Spain, and Slovenia announced recognition of the State of Palestine, which changed the picture somewhat. Still, most European countries have yet to recognize it.

As of November 2024. Created using map data from Al Jazeera.

Some European countries have sought to support Israel even in violation of international law. Germany, for instance, stands out as Europe’s largest supplier of weapons to Israel, increasing exports by tenfold in 2023, most of that increase coming after the October escalation. Germany is a party to the Arms Trade Treaty, which prohibits transfers of weapons when there is a substantial risk they will be used to commit war crimes. Given Israel’s actions in this conflict, Germany’s arms transfers are highly likely to violate the treaty.

Furthermore, in November 2024 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister, as well as several Hamas leaders, on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. As all EU member states are ICC states parties, they have an obligation to arrest those subject to ICC warrants. Notably, the Hungarian government announced it would not respect arrest warrants for Israeli officials. Similarly, France’s foreign ministry suggested—without basis—that Israeli officials have immunity from arrest.

The reasons European countries continue to support Israel are complex and varied. One factor is the Israeli lobby, which has strong political ties and funding and works to influence policy-making in the EU and member states. The influence of far-right parties and movements has also been noted: opposing Muslim immigration and influence in Europe, they appear to see Israel, which they portray as antagonistic to Islam, as an ally. Other factors include guilt related to the Holocaust (especially in Germany) and actions intended to demonstrate loyalty to the United States (especially in the United Kingdom).

Conclusion

The number of innocent victims in the Israel–Palestine conflict continues to rise. Meanwhile, the parties to the conflict are being charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, and the International Court of Justice has intimated that genocide is taking place. Many European countries, despite championing the importance of “human rights” and the “rule of law,” have aligned themselves with Israel and expressed support for its devastating military campaign—a profound contradiction. Some argue that these countries are no longer able to sustain this contradiction and are finally beginning to change course. With such a shift, will the day come when the rights to expression and assembly—so restricted within Europe—are also reassessed?

※1 For example: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination by claiming that the existence of the State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” and “Applying double standards by requiring of Jews behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.”

※2 A group that criticizes others on the internet, incites, or spreads disinformation.

※3 Some of these bans were later overturned by court rulings.

Writer: Virgil Hawkins

Graphics: Ayane Ishida

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