Almost 20 years after the Oslo Accords, the European Union is beginning to wake up. Three recent reports by European diplomats are indicative of a welcome change of in Europe’s approach towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The EU flag and European flags outside of the European Parliament in Brussels (photo: flickr/TPCOM)

The first sign of the European shift came in the form of an internal report, penned by European diplomats, concerning Israeli policy towards Palestinians in the West Bank’s Area C. In it, the Europeans acknowledged that Israeli actions there constitute ethnic cleansing. They went on to recommend that the EU change its policy and support Palestinian efforts to resist Israeli attempts to run them off the land.

While this was one of the harshest documents the EU has ever produced about Israel—that we know of—two more reports came out in the following days that only reinforced it. One recommends that the EU strengthen the presence of the PLO in Jerusalem, begin divesting from Israel, and prevent settlers from entering the EU. Another, written by French Parliament members, details water usage and distribution in Area C and depicts it as “apartheid”.

The publication of these reports, individually, a few years ago would have been interesting and isolated events demonstrating that, in spite of it all, there are a few EU officials who are sincerely interested in real and just change in Israel-Palestine. But these three documents coming out now, simultaneously, has deeper implications.

The Oslo Accords of 1993 gave many the feeling that we only need to wait a little and the foundation of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders will come, ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Some of those who fell for this delusion were the governments of states that are a part of today’s European Union.

The first to collectively wake from the Oslo dream were the Palestinians who experienced the Israeli occupation, which only became harsher and harsher in the wake of Oslo. Israel’s bullying and apartheid policies of expropriating resources while attempting to remove Palestinians from their land in order to enable total Israeli control did not begin this year, nor last.

But these reports—coming in quick succession—could indicate that something is changing. Perhaps there’s a chance that the Europeans are coming out of the fog of Oslo. It should be noted that this sea change in Europe coincides with the recent onslaught of anti-democratic laws in Israel.

It is apparent that as harsh as these reports are, they seem to be written by people who are still a little enthralled with the Oslo idea: according to them, the reason the EU needs to change its policy is in order to protect the viability of the two-state solution. Nonetheless, these reports are an encouraging sign that should be embraced by those who are working for a true and just peace in Israel-Palestine.