In one incident, bake sales organised for the Irish Red Cross were allegedly criticised as being “antisemitic”.
European Union staff who have been expressing concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza have written to staff union reps detailing “pressure and intimidation” from management in response to their actions. In a letter sent to the leaders of staff unions and committees, EU Staff for Peace — a group of current and former EU civil servants — detail concerns about a “toxic environment” that jeopardises the well-being of staff. In one incident, the group takes issue with how staff-organised bake sales, for the Irish Red Cross’ Urgent Appeal for the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza, were reportedly labelled “ambient antisemitism” by an EU leader. The group also said seven EU staff were evicted from a canteen in the Europa building in Brussels for wearing t-shirts that displayed the message “Say no to genocide”. A staff member who filmed the incident reported that they were told to delete the video, while the group also allege they were told that they were “not allowed to protest”. A spokesperson for the Council told The Journal that while staff were removed from the canteen, “everything happened calmly”. The spokesperson said “EU staff members have the right to freedom of expression” but that the premises of the institutions are “not the place for activism”. Speaking to The Journal, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said staff who had been speaking out about Gaza had told her privately of their concerns about a “culture of intimidation”. She said that while the EU “likes to pride itself” on championing freedom of expression, it was not living up to those ideals within its own walls. EU Staff for Peace has been pushing for over a year for greater EU action in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza via letters to EU leaders and weekly protests in Brussels. Dismayed at the lack of progress, other staff have also begun to organise separately and a recent letter to the leadership of the European Commission demanding that the EU takes action to stop the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was signed by over 1,600 staff. One of the organisers of the open letter, which was sent on 29 July and predicts an exponential rise in deaths in Gaza in the absence of increased aid, told The Journal that they have not yet received a response. Earlier this week, the organisers wrote again to EU leadership, including Commissioner for Democracy, Justice and the Rule of Law, Michael McGrath. In the email, staff rejected the EU’s assertion that some staff have been involved in activism related to Gaza. “We are not engaging in politics in a partisan sense — we are urging our leadership to act in defence of human rights, international law, and the EU’s founding values,” the staff said. When contacted by The Journal, Commissioner McGrath did not wish to comment.
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