Since 7 October 2023, I have not known how to address the issue. Because it's hard to act at a certain distance on something that's so emotionally touching you, maybe impossible. The TV genocide of the Palestinian people has revealed us to many feelings of powerlessness, perplexity, anger and hard-to-place. Several of them have been manifested in global concentrations and demonstrations. In the special issue No on our behalf, published by ARGIA, the main milestones until reaching the current situation of the conflict were detailed, and the opinion articles on it are numerous.

It is clear that over the past seven decades Israel has ignored the resolution published by the United Nations (UN) in 1947 (including those behind it). In addition to criticizing this deafness, the UN's low commitment to this issue and the inconsistency between the different sub-organisms that make up it have been pointed out from the critical sectors. These inconsistencies are reflected, for example, in the latest decisions of the UN Security Committee or in the operation of the refugee agency of the same organisation.

Among the geostrategic interests that have been identified over the years, numerous cooperative initiatives have been launched to help the Palestinian people, both from international organizations and from administrations (central and decentralized), various NGOs, brigadists and other volunteers. The aid that has been reached has been based on basic needs, humanitarian aid or political impact, among others. It is clear that the facts have not been able to resolve the conflict, many were certainly not born with that objective. I used to have a contradictory feeling: aid is not a tool for resolving the conflict, and without it the situation would have been more serious.

In our case, on 15 February the Basque Bill of Cooperation and Solidarity was approved with a broad consensus. It has been criticised on the way to submission, inter alia, by the need for a long-term look at the projects to be financed, or by doubts about the forms and conditions of participation of non-traditional companies and cooperation agents. Among the strengths of the Law's contents, the reference to the current capitalist economic model and, in particular, the acceptance of the model of unsustainable production and consumption it generates should be highlighted. Moreover, in relation to this recognition, the text states that in order to deal with this complex current context it is necessary to involve all “Basque institutional and social actors”. In this sense, the law refers to the need to reduce the inconsistency and conflict that may exist between policies, in order, in some way, to become aware of the influence that the actions of the other departments may have in other territories.

I often think about what would happen if human rights, feminism, or the eco-social approach mentioned in that law were integrated into other areas, beyond the calling to identify inconsistencies. Cooperation has often been treated as a collateral policy, that is, as a soft policy, despicable in times of crisis. Aligning other tough security and trade policies with the latter would give strength to all that is done. Like the consistent and solid treatment of the Palestinian people in all sectors, such as the olive trees that symbolise it.