A coalition of 18 Maltese organisations is pressuring Foreign Minister Chris Fearne to back an EU-wide ban on trade linked to illegal Israeli settlements, and to pass a domestic law doing the same.The signatories include human rights groups, faith-based and humanist organisations, cultural bodies, and the University of Malta’s Faculty of Education.The letter follows Malta’s absence from a July 13 EU push, where 11 member states tried to get the European Commission to draw up settlement trade restrictions. The bid fell three countries short.PEN Malta president Kurt Borg said Malta has recognised Palestine and called the settlements illegal, but hasn’t backed that up with action.“The government says it prefers a route everyone knows leads nowhere. That is a choice, and Malta made it while a genocide is under way. We are asking the minister to make a different one.”The government says such measures should go through the EU framework, which needs all 27 states to agree. The signatories call that “obstruction by procedure,” since countries like Germany will simply block it.The letter also accuses Malta of inconsistency, given it backed a 2024 ICJ ruling barring states from helping sustain the occupation through trade.“Either the occupation is unlawful and Malta acts accordingly, or it was never a principle at all,” the letter reads.The groups also want a national ban, noting Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands already have one, with Belgium, Norway, Italy, France and the UK not far behind.Signatories: Aditus Foundation, Association for Justice Equality and Peace, Blue Door Education, Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, University of Malta’s Faculty of Education, Friends of the Earth Malta, Ġustizzja għall-Palestina, Humanists Malta, Il-Kollettiv, Inizjamed, Maltese Association of Social Workers, Migrants Commission of the Archdiocese of Malta, Moviment Graffitti, PEN Malta, Repubblika, SOS Malta, SpeakUp and YMCA Malta.What do you make of Malta’s position on this?•