The EU focus on sanctioning Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir tells only a fragment of the story. Ben Gvir may be the face of Israel’s colonial dehumanisation at the moment, but Israel is the structure in which colonial dehumanisation is embedded.

In a letter sent to the European Council President Antonio Costa and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas last week, MEPs called upon the EU to institute a travel ban against Ben Gvir. “The recent horrifying video footage … represents a level of ruthlessness and inhumanity that the European Union can no longer ignore.”

Ben Gvir’s actions in the context of the Global Sumud Flotilla activists are certainly degrading and despicable. However, to say that the exhibited behaviour is so ruthless and inhumane that it cannot be ignored any longer by the EU is disgraceful in the context of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. We have all seen Palestinians torn to........

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