Mobilizations for peace and for solidarity with the Palestinians have surely been growing over the last ten months, as the Israeli army pursues its massacre. In many European countries, student, anti-fascist, and anti-imperialist groups — as well as more traditional social justice movements and the radical wing of the trade unions — have formed the backbone of solidarity efforts.

But if the France Insoumise MPs’ action in the National Assembly made headlines, how much are Europe’s left-wing parties really bringing the Palestinian cause into the institutions? In truth, their record is rather mixed. Faced with this unique moment of popular protest at Israel’s war and their own states’ complicity, these parties’ stance is also a litmus test of their own political viability.

The recent recognition of the Palestinian state by the Spanish government was, in general, credited to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the center-left Socialist Party (PSOE). Much less has been said about the left-wing alliance Sumar, which is part of the ruling coalition together with Sánchez’s party.

Sumar can rightly claim paternity of this move: in the coalition agreement signed last year, it insisted on recognition of Palestine as a shared policy agenda. Under Labor Minister Yolanda Díaz’s leadership, Sumar insisted that this official recognition cannot be the beginning and end of Spanish government policy. More than that, it calls for cutting diplomatic ties with Israel and imposing a total embargo on weapons. These demands seem much less audible in media, mainly due to the focus on Sánchez.

The fact that the latest country to officially recognize Palestinian statehood — Slovenia — is the only other European state where the Left (the democratic socialist party Levica) is part of the governing coalition cannot be overlooked, either.

In fact, Levica, which holds three ministries in a coalition led by the liberal Freedom Movement party, has headed calls for Slovenia to be the first European country to join South Africa in its prosecution of Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Levica’s activism on this point in government echoes the demonstrations that have happened in recent months — reaching the premises of the Slovenian parliament, and even interrupting one session.

For many left-wing parties, Palestine was also a key focus of June’s EU election campaign. From strong positions in their manifestos to supporting protests and direct action, they refused to limit themselves to what some of their colleagues euphemistically call a “balanced approach.” Instead, they opted to endure demonization by mass media and even the criminalization of their activities, in order to defend a pro-Palestinian line.

In Denmark, the Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten), has a history of support for Palestine. It has been outspoken about the crimes in Gaza and the only party to point out the Danish government’s responsibility through arms deals with Israel. But it has been slow in endorsing the regular large demonstrations, sit-ins, and student protests, in turn driving frustrations among its members. Some of the demands and language voted on during its pre-EU election congress in May — notably a sentence asserting Israel’s right to “defend itself,” months into the war — suggest that it is awkwardly “balancing” opposed positions.

Germany remains an outlier. The repressive institutional response to any display of solidarity or calls for peace has been shocking. The initial positioning of left-wing party Die Linke — including its leadership’s refusal to call for a cease-fire and to take a clear stand against Israel’s crimes — is often explained away as a response to the “specific German context.” Die Linke was built around the commitment to peace — but the shock over the Hamas war crimes on October 7 left it near-silent. Still, if the German historical relationship to Israel and its influence on reactions to the current war is well-documented, perhaps more attention should be paid to what most Germans actually think.

A recent poll showed a considerable shift in German public attitudes to the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza. If in November this “operation” had 63 percent polling support, now 61 percent are against. This trend should also be related to the massive number of German weapons daily used by the Israeli army to commit its massacres in Gaza.

We might imagine that the reality of the war and shifting public opinion would convince this left-wing party to change its stance, and back the urgent protests to oppose the war and Germany’s role in it. Has Die Linke done that? No. Its European election manifesto did not once mention Gaza, or any cease-fire call, let alone the suspension of the EU’s association agreement with Israel or a specific ban on exports of weapons. The fact that another left-wing party like MERA25 used the term “genocide” and called in its manifesto to “stop German complicity” shows that the political space for platforming Palestine solidarity does exist.

Die Linke’s choice to formally ignore this crucial issue raises many essential strategic and political questions at a time when it is constantly polling no better than 4 percent and lacks strong connections with larger organized groups or social movements in Germany. The contradiction is even more striking given that Die Linke has often spoken of a “movement” strategy that would allow the party to be seen as organically connected with a range of social issues. Its catastrophic result in the EU elections, on under 3 percent support, shows that in Germany, like elsewhere, left-wing voters will not be rallied by a deafening silence.

Still, across Europe, most meaningfully left-wing parties have decided to adopt a proactive stance on Gaza and to join the social forces advocating for peace and justice internationally. This has usually also meant having to mount a direct confrontation with both the ruling elites and the mass media.

Their EU election campaigns’ constant references to international law and alignment with countries in the Global South calling for a break with Israel and the United States are the sign that internationalism and anti-imperialism are returning as a central focus of left-wing politics in Europe. If the Russian invasion of Ukraine opened up divisions among the left-wing parties, the ongoing genocide in Palestine has, in the main, had the opposite effect. The few parties that decided to keep their distance from the Gaza issue and the protests, out of fears of exposing their own internal contradictions, have naturally been punished at the polls.

In recent years, opposition to the neoliberal structure of the EU was the common defining point of the radical left in its relationship to Europe and its core electorate. In the European elections, it seems that the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the complicity of the EU created a new such reference point. It remains to be seen if the results of the European elections and the longer-term effects of ties with the Palestine solidarity movement will help the Left join together at a genuinely international level. If an already weak left is seen to be stepping away from this battlefront, just as Syriza dropped the fight against austerity, we can imagine a similar end to the story — this time, at the expense of the Palestinians. (Jacobin — IPA Service)