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"It's important to show that we're in solidarity with everyone, whatever their nationality, whatever they earn, whatever they do," said a member of the Anti-Fascist Coordination of Belgium.
Thousands of people came together in Brussels on Sunday to march against the far-right parties' recent gains in the European Union elections—the second such protest in the Belgian capital since the results were announced earlier this month.
Sunday's march was organized by the Anti-Fascist Coordination of Belgium. The Brussels Timesreported that "some 20 social movements and organizations are part of the CAB, including Young FGTB, Ades network, the Anti-Fascist Front of Liège, MOC Brussels, ASBL Garance, Ecolo J, and Mrax."
The organizers aimed to offer a "popular response and a contrasting social agenda" to the E.U.'s far-right movement, which they said "exacerbates social degradation" and promotes "absolutely disastrous policies" targeting democratic rights, the LGTBQ+ community, migrants, women, and workers.
"It will never be the far right that calls for taxing the richest, increasing the number of social housing, or implementing an ecological transition rooted in a logic of social justice, which is necessary for our common future."
"The far right will never demand higher wages for all," the organizers said. "It will never be the far right that calls for taxing the richest, increasing the number of social housing, or implementing an ecological transition rooted in a logic of social justice, which is necessary for our common future."
CAB member Sixtine Van Outryve toldEuronews that "this march is important today to show a message of hope in the face of the messages of despair that the far right wants to bring us."
"It's important to show that we're in solidarity with everyone, whatever their nationality, whatever they earn, whatever they do," she said. "We stand together and we want a society that doesn't divide us. A society that doesn't exclude, a society that isn't racist or sexist."
"Many of us were shocked by the election results, showing far-right breakthroughs at the European level," Van Outryve added, expressing concern about the "alarming" normalization of far-right discourse.
The right-wing surge in the 27-member bloc's elections was widely anticipated, as key figures from across the continent and beyond collectively campaigned against migrants, feminism, socialism, LGBTQ+ rights, and the United Nations.
Parties that did well in the E.U. contests included Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, Germany's Alternative für Deutschland, and Marine le Pen's National Rally in France, where President Emmanuel Macron responded to the results by calling snap national elections scheduled for June 30 and July 7.
As The Guardianreported earlier this month, "A surge in support for far-right parties in France, Germany, and Austria was tempered by strong support for centrist and left-wing groups in other countries."
The mixed results mean Ursula von der Leyen—who is tied to Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union and the European People's Party—is expected to secure a second five-year term as president of the European Commission.
The Sunday march preceded a Monday evening meeting for heads of state and government to begin discussing who will fill that role and other top E.U. posts. In addition to the commission spot, The Guardiannoted, "leaders will also decide on successors to Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, and Josep Borrell, the E.U.'s top diplomat."
"Consensus is also firming around Portugal's Socialist former Prime Minister António Costa to take over from Michel in chairing E.U. Council meetings," according to the British newspaper. "Estonia's prime minister, Kaja Kallas, is a favorite to take over from Borrell."
"Those most vulnerable, including children, farmers, and farming communities, will continue to pay the price for the E.U.'s inaction," said one advocate.
With agricultural business owners continuing protests across France, Greece, Spain, and other European countries, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen angered public health and biodiversity groups Tuesday as she announced the body would withdraw its proposed law to sharply cut the amount of chemical pesticides used in the European Union—a capitulation, said one journalist, to "landowners."
Brussels-based Arthur Neslen, who has reported for The Guardian and Politico, called von der Leyen's announcement "shocking, cowardly, and dishonest" as she withdrew the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR).
The proposal was first introduced in 2022 and was aimed at slashing pesticide use in half by 2030 and banning pesticide products in areas including urban green spaces and protected sites under the Natura 2000 program, as well as promoting the use of sustainable alternatives.
With farmers staging protests across the E.U. in recent days, complaining over the high cost of maintaining agricultural businesses in Europe, von der Leyen said the SUR had become "polarizing."
Last week, the commission provoked an outcry from environmental advocates when it announced it would allow farmers to delay implementation of a rule requiring them to set aside some of their land to promote biodiversity.
Now, said critics on Tuesday, the commission's decision regarding SUR would further contribute to biodiversity loss as well as water and soil pollution and potential health impacts for people and wildlife.
Reducing European farmers' "dependency on pesticides is not only short-sighted, but a major disservice to public health," said Anne Stauffer, deputy director of the Health and Environment Alliance. "Those most vulnerable, including children, farmers, and farming communities, will continue to pay the price for the E.U.'s inaction."
Grace O'Sullivan, a member of European Parliament representing Ireland, noted that pesticides will continue to be permitted "in nature reserves, city parks, even playgrounds."
In her speech, von der Leyen said farmers "deserve to be listened to" as they face drought and other effects of the climate crisis, higher costs of living, and other factors that make agriculture more expensive.
"Only if our farmers can live off the land will they invest in the future. And only if we achieve our climate and environmental goals together, will farmers be able to continue to make a living," the commission president said.
Friends of the Earth said the "translation" of von der Leyen's comments was "farmers will keep on being poisoned and nature degraded, while the pesticide industry reaps massive profits."
"We cannot afford to leave the pesticide issue unresolved," the group said. "We need real solutions now to support farmers in transitioning away from toxic chemicals."
The Pesticide Action Network (PAN) said the commission's decision—which still has to be ratified by the College of Commissioners in the coming weeks—was made to benefit large "agribusiness interests" and not people struggling to run small farms.
"The European Commission just took a decision that is harmful to farmers and their families, as the first victims of pesticide use," said Martin Dermine, PAN Europe executive director. "Pesticide pollution is a huge problem that has to be tackled. It pollutes our waters, harms our health, and destroys the biodiversity that we depend on. It destroys fertile soil and endangers food production in the long run. We have to move towards a healthy and sustainable form of agriculture quickly, doing nothing is not an option in the light of the biodiversity crisis we're in."
"Thousands of scientists and millions of citizens have urged E.U. politicians to take urgent action," he added. "Not answering citizens' demands goes against democracy and only favors agribusiness."
Officials in Europe, Canada, and the U.S. have attempted to "backtrack" on the widespread unconditional support that's been expressed in the last week for Israel's assault on Gaza.
The United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories expressed concern on Sunday that the international body has so far not publicly advocated for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, as rhetoric from the United States and other influential countries has offered tacit approval of an Israeli air campaign in the blockaded enclave where at least 2,670 Palestinians, including more than 700 children, have now been killed.
Francesca Albanese, who has served as the special rapporteur since 2022, told Al Jazeera that Israel must account for exactly "how the dismantlement of Hamas is happening" as it intensifies what it claims is a war targeting Hamas to retaliate for the group's surprise attack on October 7.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have spent the last week bombing residential buildings, schools housing refugees, healthcare facilities, and at least one convoy of people traveling through Gaza after Israel ordered one million people to leave the northern part of the enclave within 24 hours in order to "save their lives" from continued strikes.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Sunday that at least 50 entire families in Gaza have been wiped out from the civil registry, with all their members killed in air strikes and shelling.
"I don't have any sign that [a cease-fire] is being considered even at the U.N. secretary-general level," Albanese told Al Jazeera. "It troubles me because, on one hand, you have Israeli officials saying they want to eliminate Hamas. But what we see on the ground is thousands of people including children being killed and injured."
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called for "international humanitarian law and human rights law" to be upheld, but has not called for a cessation of the strikes in Gaza.
On social media, Albanese said that "there can be no more delay" of a public call by Guterres for a cease-fire, and that atrocities like the mass displacement and killing of civilians "must not only be punished but also prevented."
The U.N. Security Council was discussing calls for a humanitarian cease-fire "behind closed doors" in New York on Saturday, the Vatican News reported, and other officials over the weekend signaled a retreat from the rhetoric of U.S. President Joe Biden and a number of other Western leaders last week.
Biden and the leaders of the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany said in a joint statement last week that they supported Israel's right "to defend itself" without demanding the country act within the bounds of international law as it unleashed its air campaign and called up 300,000 reservists for a likely ground assault.
Speaking to PBS Newshour Saturday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "Hamas is not the Palestinian people... so I do not think that the people should pay the price" for Hamas' killing of at least 1,300 people, including nearly 300 soldiers.
The European Council also released its first joint statement on the crisis Sunday, saying Israel has the right to self-defense while respecting "humanitarian and international law" and ensuring "the protection of all civilians at all times."
The council said it would hold a meeting on Tuesday "to get a grip on the response to the war between Israel and Hamas," Irish Times correspondent Naomi O'Leary reported, as European officials, diplomats, and members of the European Parliament have grown concerned about European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's stated support for what human rights experts have condemned as Israel's "collective punishment" of Palestinians in Gaza.
In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said Saturday night that he was "deeply concerned by the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip" as people remained without access to electricity, food, and water.
Al Jazeera journalist Sana Saeed noted that Trudeau was one of the leaders who just days ago was "cheering on Israel's 'right to defend itself,' refusing to condemn the assault on Gaza and loss of Palestinian life" even as the Israeli defense minister called all two million residents of Gaza "human animals" as he announced a "complete siege" on the enclave.
"As the Israeli genocide of Palestinians becomes clearer and harder to defend to the public at large, expect more about-faces, backtracking, and softening of stances of people who have cheered this on," said Saeed.
But such comments are mere "posturing," she added, when they are not accompanied by clear calls for a cease-fire to prevent further loss of civilian lives.
"Note how any liberals (U.S., Canada, Europe) who are now discussing 'minimizing harm' and the 'humanitarian crisis' make zero demands of a cease-fire, zero calls for even restraint by Israel," said Saeed. "Nothing."
Rights activist and photographer Patience Zalanga suggested some officials are "being hit with the reality that there are more people who aggressively oppose the genocide of Palestinians than they realized," as thousands of Americans—and tens of thousands of people worldwide—have joined protests in recent days to demand a cease-fire in Gaza.
"The United States government does not care any more or less for Palestinians," said Zalanga. "But what they do care about is how bad this looks. And it's only getting worse."