Daily reports from Gaza tell us the shocking reality of the latest upsurge of state-sponsored Israeli terrorism, which has killed almost a thousand civilians, seeing schools targeted by bombs – and wounding thousands, apparently indiscriminately.

Of course Hamas must share some of the blame – but the truth is any military conflict between Israel and Hamas is bound to be disproportionate and therefore both brutal and illegal.

As hundreds of thousands of us march across the world to call for peace it’s clear what we need now: an internationally-monitored ceasefire and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to all affected communities, with the internationally-guaranteed human rights of both Israelis and Gazans upheld by the UN. We need the lifting of the siege and an end to the rocket attacks.

But although that seems pretty clear to most of us – the people I met at Friday’s peace vigil at the clocktower, or Saturday’s Palestine Solidarity Camnpaign stall, and the thousands of demonstrators who took to the streets of Brighton, London and elsewhere over the weekend - it’s certainly not clear in the corridors of power in Brussels and London.

For, incredibly, EU leaders are actually pushing not for sanctions against Israel, but for closer links with it. Greens in the European Parliament have helped to ensure that the Parliament has so far refused to give its assent to this upgrading of relations.

We are also calling for the suspension of the current EU-Israel Association Agreement, which gives Israeli goods special access to EU markets. This Agreement contains a so-called "human rights clause", under which it can be suspended in the event of either party breaching human rights law.

Green calls on this have been ignored – and the EU is insisting on turning a blind eye to any such rights violations committed by the Israeli government.

This is completely unacceptable – and is essentially sending out a very clear signal that the EU doesn’t really care about Palestinians civilians – or human rights – at all.

Alas it isn’t just the EU which has refused to pull its weight behind the push for peace in Gaza – it’s the UK government too.

Despite the atrocities, and the clear voice of public opinion, our Government continues to export arms to Israel - arms which could well have been manufactured here in Brighton at the EDO factory.
Last year saw a major increase in the number of arms exports our Government licensed. There should be an immediate end to all arms exports from the EU, but if that cannot be secured, then the Prime Minister must act alone.

The EU was founded on the principle of bringing peace to our time and we will continue to insist it uses its political clout to try to deliver just that.