Sam
Alberto CotticaIf you are a European Union citizen, there is a concrete way you can support a peaceful resolution in Iran and Gaza: you can demand the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in view of Israel’s violations of human rights.
THREAD 1/
This treaty is the legal cornerstone of cooperation between the two parties. Its suspension would be a big deal for Israel: the EU is by far its main trading partner, and its universities rely on the Horizon Europe programme for research funding.
Early this year, a group of people launched a European Citizen Initiative (ECI) to demand its suspension:
https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2025/000005_en
2/
An ECI is a "very official" form of petition, run by the European Union itself. If it is successful, the @EUCommission has a legal obligation to respond with an official act. Additionally, the European Parliament organizes a hearing centered on the petition, and might (but it is far from certain) also discuss it in plenary.
https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works_en
3/
There are two success conditions. First, petitions need to gather at least one million signatures within a year of starting collection. Second, in at least seven different member states certain minimum thresholds must be reached in the number of signatures collected nationally.
Most ECIs fail, but this particular petition is doing VERY well. It started collection in January; the second condition is already exceeded, with ten member states achieving over 100% of their thresholds.
4/
Let's acknowledge these countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden. Well done!
The second condition is on track to be met and exceeded, too. As I write this, the petition stands at 712,525 – almost 3/4 of the way, with still 9 months to go. This could easily be the most successful ECI ever.
5/
So, for once clicktivism is not a travesty. It's easy, and it could have a big impact. At a minimum you are giving pro-human rights MEPs ammo to demand a public debate on why we are in business with Israel, and, more in general, what price "being in business" comes with, and for whom.
6/
Many of us, myself included, feel powerless in the face of geopolitical tides. As small as it is, this ECI, I feel, gives us a chance to weigh in and improve the very poor state of the public debate on these issues.
So, my recommendation to you is: sign it, if you are a EU citizen and you agree with it. Fight it if you disagree. Both will be better than just passively trusting the diplomats.
Also gives us something to do as we wait for the next doomsday deadline anyway. Hang in there!
7/end
(sorry for deleting and re-posting, I had inadvertently broken the thread. Meh)
Uckermark MacGyver 
@alberto_cottica Dang, for me the signing with my eID doesn't seem to work. Reports an invalid URL. I'll try again from Germany when I'm back from vacation
@alberto_cottica Nah, got it working. I was missing the Ausweis App. That had been swapped out from my phone.
@maxheadroom well done!
Caz Mockett@alberto_cottica I would sign it if I could but sadly I live in the UK 😭
@cazmockett sadly indeed! Well, Westminster has its own petition site, so hopefully....
magnus (he/him)@alberto_cottica I just signed it. It was easy and quick
@magnus well done Magnus! Yes, it is integrated with the various national eIDs, which are all eIDAS-compliant. Benefits of standardization finally hitting our everyday lives!
Toni Aittoniemi@alberto_cottica Signed!!
@gimulnautti well done Toni!
Juho Mäntysalo
@iju thank you, rather, for being part of it!
*_jߍyrope@Alberto Cottica Facebook andf LinkedIn as social media contact points for this initiative are about as outdated as it can get. If you'd like to reach clever people, then thinkm outside of commercial social media.
Another BIG problem is, that the only way to sign this, is an electronic ID, that especially most older people do not have, or do not know, how to use it. Digital exclusivity again, really? This campaign won't manage to really speak to people, unless i do support this. But i am not going to hold my ID card in front of my camera withotu knowing, where that data foes exactly, and how it's going to be used or processed.
Sorry, it's a fail.
Another BIG problem is, that the only way to sign this, is an electronic ID, that especially most older people do not have, or do not know, how to use it. Digital exclusivity again, really? This campaign won't manage to really speak to people, unless i do support this. But i am not going to hold my ID card in front of my camera withotu knowing, where that data foes exactly, and how it's going to be used or processed.
Sorry, it's a fail.
Alberto Cottica (@[email protected])
4.99K Posts, 441 Following, 1.15K Followers · Post-growth economist, citizen, runner. Network science, complex systems, digital anthropology, collective intelligence. Co-founder of Edgeryders, currently at UNDP Accelerator Labs. Ex minor rockstar. Polyamorous. Thoughts my own. #economics #degrowth #postgrowth #anthropology #NetworkScience No license, implied or explicit, is granted to use any of my posts for training AI models.
@jrp hello, worrying about data privacy is a legitimate concern. That said, an explanation of how the data are treated in various scenarios (eg. sign with eID vs. no eID but online vs. paper forms) is here: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/how-it-works/data-protection_en
Conny Nasch@alberto_cottica It made me feel really good to sign the petition 😁 With every new move of Netanyahu I only think "flatten the fuckers"😤
@connynasch it's a small gesture, but it's not nothing!
Corvid19@alberto_cottica I wanted to sign it, but after filling in the form, I got an error stating that I had already signed it :D
No doubt it will reach the required threshold soon.
No doubt it will reach the required threshold soon.
@corvid19 Thanks Corvid. I'll drink to that!
Mr Fry ⛵ 
🪚@alberto_cottica Signed! Thank you for sharing!