The European Union's governance practices in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This paper focuses on the EU’s governance practices of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (IPC). Since 1980, the common unifying objective underpinning the EU’s discourse and diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the IPC has been that of ending the occupation of Palestinian territory, of bringing an end to Israeli settlement activity and of helping bring about a Palestinian state with Palestinians living alongside Israelis in peace and security. The academic discussion on the EU’s involvement in this conflict has centred upon issues of EU actorness, its capabilities and expectations and / or effectiveness, concluding that the EU has been weak and / or ineffective in this context. This paper suggests that Bang’s notion of governance as political communication can help us nuance better the EU’s endless efforts at attempting a solution to this intractable conflict. Such a focus on political communication will help us learn something more general about EU actions in the IPC.