Aid as Pacification: The Encroachment of Counterterrorism Clauses into the Aid Regime of the European Union in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

The article engages the European Union's (EU) implementation of counterterrorism clauses as part of its development aid regulations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The point of departure for the research is the shift in the EU's policy for aid regulations in the OPT in 2019, when the EU began to gradually implement counterterrorism clauses in its grant contracts, a measure that sparked widespread protests amongst Palestinian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who critiqued the clauses as an explicit attempt to further pacify civil society. Situated within the realms of postcolonial theory and critical security studies, the article draws on semi-structured interviews with staff and representatives of Palestinian NGOs in the OPT in order to unpack perspectives of civil society actors who interpret the policy as an illegitimate interference with their political self-determination, in particular the internationally recognised right to resist colonial subjugation. The conceptual framework of pacification – as an inconspicuous, diffuse form of violence within liberal governance aimed at suppressing resistance to the prevailing order – aligns closely with both perspectives on the ground and postcolonial thought. As such, the article elucidates tensions between an expanding European counterterrorism regime, increasingly permeating the sphere of development aid, and perspectives of Palestinian civil society actors who discern these policies as deeply rooted in colonial paradigms. Whilst exploring these tensions, the intricate relationship between postcolonial research and allyship lingers as an underlying notion. This premise assumes heightened relevance within the contemporary academic landscape in Europe, wherein scholarly investigations, which refuse simplistic vilifications of Palestinian resistance and instead seek a deeper engagement with local perspectives, are increasingly marginalised.