UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing
Israeli “terrorists” are conducting ethnic cleansing in the West Bank with the tacit backing of the government, the UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, has said as he announced sweeping sanctions, alongside France and Canada, on trade with Israeli settlements.
In the strongest condemnation ever issued by the UK government, Miliband said the government would now take the official position that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety, saying such acknowledgment was “the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice.”
Miliband said that the government would now enact:
- An import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
- A comprehensive sanctions regime against providing services such as construction or financing for Israeli settlements.
- A ban on the advertising in the UK of illegal settlement properties.
- Personal sanctions against key individuals accused of promoting settler violence.
- A new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”.
The UK has signalled a major change in its approach to Israel, after its Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced what he called a “reset” of relations, as well banning exports from illegal Israeli settlements.
And while the move has been praised by many, it has attracted condemnation from Washington and Israel, who in response announced they would close the British consulate in Jerusalem.
So is the move mainly a symbolic gesture from the British government? Or could it signify a major policy shift when it comes to its once close ally?
On this episode of the Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined by the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, the Labour Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee Dame Emily Thornberry MP, as well as former Conservative Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind: