The Labour Muslim Network (LMN) and International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) have published a legal briefing urging the British government to act "urgently and comprehensively" to apply pressure on Israel over its actions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The briefing, entitled "Priority Measures for UK Policy on Palestine", comes as Andy Burnham's government is expected to announce a raft of new measures on Israel this month.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said last month that the government would announce "measures" against Israel over the new E1 settlement project east of Jerusalem that would effectively cut the occupied West Bank in two.
The LMN, a group within the Labour Party, told Middle East Eye: "The Israeli government’s E1 settlement project could destroy the future of a viable Palestinian state.
"Settlement expansion, settler violence and terrorism, and the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities in the West Bank are accelerating on a daily basis."
The LMN added: "The UK government and the international community as a whole must act urgently and comprehensively in response to this destructive proposal before potentially irreversible damage is done."
Last month, MEE reported that Burnham's government is poised to announce a raft of new policies on Israel in September, including a ban on goods from illegal Israeli settlements.
Miliband in particular is pushing for stronger measures and has been consulting a range of civil society organisations, MEE understands.
But pro-Israel groups are campaigning for the government to weaken its policies and not implement a full ban on the import of settlement foods.
The briefing by the LMN and the ICJP, published on Tuesday, says: "The legal framework governing the settlements is firmly established in international humanitarian law, including treaties to which the UK is a party.
"The UK is required not only to respect international humanitarian law but also, under Common Article 1 of the Geneva Conventions, to ensure respect for it in all circumstances."
It adds: "The UK Government should establish a robust and tangible policy approach to Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise", including a "full ban on British citizens and businesses conducting economic and financial activities in illegal Israeli settlements as well as in activities that assist the wider illegal settlement economy".
The briefing further recommends that the government should table or co-sponsor a UN Security Council resolition "on the protection of Palestinian civilians" in the West Bank.
This would require the UN to create an "international civilian protection and monitoring presence in the West Bank".
UK should 'press for Security Council resolution'
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), a lobby group within the Labour Party, published a report earlier this month apparently justifying some illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine and urging the British government not to ban goods produced by them.
LFI is believed to count more than 70 MPs as affiliates, although it no longer keeps a public list.
Burnham is under significant pressure from Labour backbenchers to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements.
Polling of Labour members earlier this year showed that a staggering 87 percent support a ban on trade with Israeli settlements, with only six percent opposing it.
The LMN and ICJP briefing further argues that the Foreign Office "should report periodically to Parliament on the status of religious sites in the [occupied Palestinian territories] and on violations, restrictions and intimidation affecting worshippers and clergy of all faiths, so that the erosion of the status quo and the persecution of Muslim and Christian Palestinians are placed on the public record and can inform sanctions and other policy decisions".
The briefing also calls on the government to advise British nationals serving in the Israeli military that doing so may amount to offences under UK law - and may result in prosecution on return.
It notes that the UK has already issued this guidance for Ukraine, and says the government should "adopt for Israel the position it has already adopted or Ukraine".
The briefing further raises the issue of Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed two laws in October 2024 banning Unrwa from operating inside Israel and occupied Palestine.
The briefing calls on the UK government to "call publicly for the
repeal of the Knesset legislation" and raise the issue at the Security Council.
Another key policy the Burnham government could consider movement on relates to arms sales.
In September 2024, the newly elected Starmer government suspended around 30 export licences for UK-made arms after assessing there was a "clear risk" the items could be used in Gaza in serious violations of international humanitarian law.
The licensing of UK-made F-35 components exported directly to Israel was suspended. Significantly, however, parts sent to a global F-35 programme spare parts pool that could end up in Israel were exempted.
UK-made F-35 components make up 15 percent of every F-35, one of the world's most sophisticated fighter jets, which Israel used extensively in its campaign in Gaza, as well as in Lebanon and Iran.
The briefing argues that since the UK is party to the Arms Trade Treaty, the government should "suspend all remaining arms export licences to Israel" and "suspend licences for F-35 components entering the global supply chain where UK-origin components could ultimately support Israeli military operations".
"The measures recommended in this briefing are not measures for after the Israeli election of 27 October 2026; they are measures made urgent by it," the briefing says.
"The present government is using the weeks before the vote to create facts on the ground, in E1 and across the West Bank,
that are designed to outlast it, and the UK’s obligations under the Court’s Opinion of July 2024 are not suspended while it waits to see who forms the next coalition."
No comments:
Post a Comment