Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine

Israel and Palestine

• Last week, an Israeli settler family was brutally killed in the illegal West Bank settlement of Itamar. In response, Netanyahu vowed to build hundreds more illegal homes for settlers, a twisted logic of ‘punishment’ criticised by a Haaretz editorial. Melanie Phillips, meanwhile, saw fit to generalise about Arabs as ‘savages’ and bizarrely concluded that illegal settlements are built ‘on land to which [Israel] is legally and morally entitled’. Her comments are now being investigated by the Press Complaints Commission.
• Potential Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin is visiting Israel and Occupied East Jerusalem, and will meet with PM Netanyahu and Likud MK Danny Danon on Monday. Palin is renowned for her foreign policy expertise regarding US relationships with North Korea and Russia, and has previously said that: “I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don’t think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand.”
• A cargo ship bound for Egypt allegedly carrying arms for militant groups in the Gaza Strip has been seized by Israeli commandos.
• Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says he is ready to travel to Gaza to try and end the division between his Fatah party and the Islamist movement Hamas.
• A Knesset committee has been scheduled to debate on whether the ‘pro-Israel, pro-peace’ US lobbying group J Street is sufficiently ‘committed’ to Israel to be called a pro-Israel organization.

Perspectives on the Conflict

• The Council for Arab British Understanding has produced a report, ‘Under Occupation: A Report on the West Bank’, based on the findings of its APPG (all party parliamentary group) delegation to the region. Its main findings are:
  - The mass arrest and ill treatment of children has to end
  - The construction of settlements and the barrier outside of the green line must stop immediately
  - Israel’s policies towards Jerusalem should be reversed
  - Vulnerable communities in Area C require greater international protection
  - The European Union should take a more active and assertive role
  - A proper framework for negotiations needs to be developed
  - Palestinian municipal, presidential and legislative elections should be held
  - Human rights and political opposition have to be respected across the OPT
  You can read the report in full here.
• ASA adjudication on ‘Travel Palestine’ advert: two of the three charges were not upheld. The third was only upheld as ‘misleading’ because the Israeli state refuses to uphold international law on the status of Jerusalem, and thus Jerusalem cannot be ‘universally’ recognised as of Palestinian heritage, as the advert had implied. Colonisation is indeed a powerful narrative, then, but the result was perhaps not the whitewash the pro-Israeli lobby were hoping for. Full details on the ruling and its reasoning are here.
• Confused about David Cameron’s varying statements on Israel? As an Economist article says, ‘there could almost be two David Camerons’. The explanation, it argues, ‘might lie in the complex triangular choreography of Anglo-American-Israeli diplomacy’. The article doesn’t completely ‘solve’ the puzzle it sets itself, but is worth reading in full here.

• According to Middle East Monitor/ICM’s recent poll, Europeans believe Jerusalem should be a neutral, international city, as opposed to being a national capital for either the Israelis or the Palestinians. MEMO’s website has more details of the poll, carried out across six European countries, here.

And finally…

An LDFP member is working for EAAPI in the West Bank; you can see her excellent photoblog here.

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Spring Conference

• Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine will host ‘Talking to Hamas: the need for long-term regional security’ at the Liberal Democrat Spring Conference next weekend.
• Speaking will be Lord Alderdice and Gabrielle Rifkind, Oxford Research Group Director of the Human Security in the Middle East programme. Chairing the event will be Stephen Williams, MP for Bristol West and Treasurer of the Britain-Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group.
• The event will take place from 18.15 until 19.30 on Saturday 12th March at Suite 8 in Jurys Inn, Sheffield. Venue information can be found here.
• Please note that Conference passes will not be required for this venue: all are welcome.
• For any questions about the event, please contact info@ldfp.eu.
  

News Updates

• Israel has declined to renew a residency permit for Anglican Bishop Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem. William Hague, the US state department, and Rowan Williams have raised the matter with the Israeli government.
  
• Gaza banks shut in ‘Hamas theft’ protest. All banks in Gaza closed for a day in protest at seizure of cash by gunmen allegedly protected by Hamas police.
  
• More illegal Israeli settlements: The Jerusalem municipality has approved the construction of 14 apartments for Jewish settlers in an Arab neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

In Parliament

• Julian Huppert, Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge, stands up for Human Rights in the Commons, arguing against changes to the law on Universal Jurisdiction. Read the full debate here.

• Debate in the Lords focusing on how the UK should work with the US ‘to ensure that Israel complies with United Nations resolutions and international law’, with important contributions by Lib Dems Lord Dykes, Baroness Tonge, Lord Palmer, Baroness Falkner and Lord Alderdice.
  Lord Dykes comments:
  “Once again the US refused to condemn behaviour which even President Reagan repeatedly described as totally illegal: the continued colonisation of the West Bank and, of course, East Jerusalem. Once again the Arab street sees the double standards of the US. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and was quite rightly expelled after a year. The UN, quite rightly, did not hesitate then. Israel invaded the West Bank 44 years ago, but it is still there. I warmly congratulate the UK Government as well as the EU on their much more decisive stand in contrast to the still lingering, miserable and self-inflicted humiliation which is further eroding America’s already tattered so-called leadership of the western world.”

• Alistair Burt comments on the UK’s diplomatic relationship with the Palestine General Delegation in London. Full answer here.
  “We are aware of the steps that some other EU states have taken to upgrade the status of the Palestinian Delegations in their capitals. The Palestinians have made the same request to the UK, which we are considering in accordance with our long standing support for Palestinian state building…”

Comment

• Harriet Sherwood discusses the Bedouin village of al-Arakib in the Negev:
  “The Israelis keep bulldozing their village, but still the Bedouin will not give up their land. The tiny village of al-Arakib has been torn down by the Israeli authorities 18 times in seven months, but each time the Bedouin rebuild their homes.”

• Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada, writes on Al-Jazeera that “the PA should dissolve itself“:
  “With the complete collapse of the “peace process” — the final push given by the Palestine Papers — it is time for the PA to have its Mubarak moment. When the Egyptian tyrant finally left office on February 11, he handed power over to the armed forces.
  The PA should dissolve itself in a similar manner by announcing that the responsibilities delegated to it by Israel are being handed back to the occupying power, which must fulfill its duties under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.”
  
• A strong and important letter from Arthur Goodman of Jews for Justice for Palestine to the Guardian, on the nuances between the state of Israel and the Jewish people.
  “…a chorus of some establishment Jewish organisations muddies the water by constantly telling the world that all Jews always support what Israel does. (The authors of the letter of 24 February represent three of them.) So it isn’t surprising if a few people fall into the trap of referring to a “Jewish lobby”. It doesn’t mean they are antisemitic, and it doesn’t mean the universities which host them tolerate antisemitism.
  There is a deep dishonesty in the chorus. Not only does it deliberately fail to acknowledge the wide range of attitudes within the Jewish community towards Israeli policy, it also tries to have it both ways. Having told the world how all Jews support Israeli policy, it cries foul when some people take them at their word.”

And finally…

• Human Rights Watch Film Festival is on in London, March 23 – April 1. Includes ‘This Is My Land… Hebron’. Read more about the festival here.

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• Feedback? Email info@ldfp.eu. We look forward to seeing you in Sheffield on the 12th!

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From Israel and Palestine

• The US vetoed a UN resolution condemning Israel’s settlement policy. For Gideon Levy this means ‘Obama has joined Likud’. Palestinians staged a protest in Ramallah, with participants wisely noting that this move ‘would harm Washington’s standing across the roiling Middle East’.
  
  
• Iran has sent ships through the Suez Canal, something Israel eyes with worry.
  
• Saeb Erekat, former chief Palestinian negotiator, resigned after the Palestinian Papers leak was traced to his office.
  
  
• More on the resignation of the Palestinian Authority cabinet.
  
  
• Considering the political upheaval in the Arab world, the Economist asks ‘What should the Palestinians do next?’, concluding that ‘Both Palestinian factions look as divided and power-hungry as ever. And, despite its problems in Gaza, Hamas looks the less unhappy of the two’.

• Lord Howell of Guildford on the wounding of six Palestinians in Qasra village:
  “We continue to underline to the Government of Israel that settlements are illegal and must stop. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary discussed these issues with the Israeli Foreign Minister during his visit to London on 24 January 2011. My honourable friend, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Alistair Burt, also discussed these points with the Israeli Government during his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 18 January 2011.

  We understand that this specific incident took place after Israeli soldiers dismantled a settlement on Palestinian land. We will continue to underline the need for restraint to avoid needless casualties.”

• Foreign Minister William Hague on the issue of settlements:
  “The settlements are illegal under international law. We are clear about that, and the previous Government were clear about that. There is no question about it. The issue of the settlements can be finally resolved only with a settlement on borders, which in our view, as I said, should be based on 1967 borders, with land swaps. That would have implications for some of those settlements. The United States has made valiant efforts to bring the parties back together on the basis of a continued Israeli moratorium on settlements, but sadly did not succeed in doing so. We all feel strongly about the issue. The hon. Gentleman is right to feel strongly about it. What we now need to find is a practical way to get both parties talking again, and that requires both of them to be ready to make the compromises necessary to do so.”

• Lord Howell on the question of commemorating Nakba day in the UK:
  “We have not had any discussions on Palestinian Nakba day. However, we are concerned about the breakdown in negotiations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and are working closely with the US and the EU to see a return to negotiations. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary has made clear that the entire international community, including the US, should support 1967 borders as the basis for resumed negotiations.”

• Excerpt from Liberal Democrat Baroness Falkner of Margravine’s speech on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
  “What are the prospects for a peaceful transition to democracy in the Middle East? There will have to be a solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict. This will inevitably involve talking to Hamas; peace without that will be impossible. If we recoil in horror at the prospect, let us be clear that Hamas is not Islamist in conventional terms. It does not wish to see a theocratic state on a literalist interpretation of medieval Islam. It comprises doctors and engineers as well as mullahs. It is a pluralist party; 25 per cent of its ruling council comprise professionals educated in the West, with western notions of governance and administration. It is not a proxy for al-Qaeda; it fights al-Qaeda on the ground in Gaza. We should also recall that we do not need to make peace with friends; it is our enemies with whom we have to sit down at the table. We have held our noses and done so with former terrorists in Northern Ireland, and we have seen the fruits of bringing dissenters into the fold.”

  Remember, LDFP’s Spring Conference event is ‘Talking to Hamas: the need for long-term regional security’. This will take place from 18.15 until 19.30 on Saturday 12th March at Suite 8 in Jurys Inn, Sheffield.

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Egypt, Israel and Palestine

• LDFP welcomes the resignation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. As Deputy PM Nick Clegg said before Mubarak officially stepped down on Friday, we look forward to a more democratic, multiparty future for Egypt.
• Palestinians in Gaza celebrated Mubarak’s departure, no surprise given the former Egyptian regime’s role in restricting the flow of goods into Gaza, and the close links between Hamas and the opposition in Egypt.
• The Egypt-Gaza Rafah border crossing remains closed. Hamas has urged Egypt to open the crossing as the Gaza Strip suffers from its most recent closure.
• UK Foreign Minister William Hague said that Israel’s negative reaction to the turmoil in Egypt would exacerbate tensions and stall the already struggling peace talks. Israeli spokespeople (official and unofficial) hit back, wary of certain Egyptian voices ‘heard calling for a freeze or cancellation of a 30-year old peace agreement’.
• WikiLeaks informs us that Omar Suleiman told the Israeli government that he would cleanse the Sinai of Palestinian arms smugglers, while Mohamed ElBaredei was ‘too soft on Tehran’ for Israel and the US.
• The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank – whose President and parliament members remain in power after their official terms have ended – said it would hold local council elections as soon as possible. A brave move, perhaps, but one that the Jerusalem Post holds in high regard.
• Robert Fisk on the ‘question’ of democracy and reform in the Arab world: ‘So when the Arabs want dignity and self-respect, when they cry out for the very future which Obama outlined in his famous – now, I suppose, infamous – Cairo speech of June 2009, we show them disrespect and casuistry’.
• Amos Harel, defence analyst for the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz, ‘The growing possibility of a radically Islamist Egypt has serious Middle East security implications’.
• In Jordan, tribal leaders have criticised Queen Rania, Palestinian by birth, for her ‘lavish lifestyle’ and reported assistance in relocating Palestinians to Jordan, activities that would ‘facilitate Israeli plans to turn Jordan into a substitute homeland for the Palestinians.’

Palestinian Territories

• Via MAP: The UN puts Gazan unemployment at 45%.
• Interesting opinion piece by Noam Raz, an IDF soldier who serves as a B’Tselem official. ‘It is clearly to thwart this goal of ours that Foreign Minister Lieberman and his party are now working to establish a Knesset committee to purportedly investigate foreign funding to organizations that monitor human rights violations by the IDF. Clearly, the aim of move this is to silence B’Tselem and other organizations seeking to advance human rights in the occupied territories.’
• Via EAPPI: the IDF makes fifty homeless in Jordan Valley demolitions. The Jordan Valley is situated in Area C of the Occupied Palestinian West Bank, and under the Oslo Accords Israel is ‘enabled’ to dismantle ‘unauthorised’ Palestinian construction in areas under its control, while ‘almost never’ giving permits for Palestinians to build in Area C parts of the West Bank.

Forthcoming Events:

• ‘British Policy in the Middle East’, a CAABU event featuring Dr Rosemary Hollis, which will be held at the Houses of Parliament, at 6.30pm on Wednesday 16^th February.
• ‘The Palestine Papers under the spotlight’, a MEMO event featuring Sir Richard Dalton, Clare Short, Oliver McTiernan and others, which will be held at Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. Email registration essential.

In Parliament:

• Alastair Burt, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the FCO, on Hamas: “We maintain regular discussion with the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority on a wide range of issues, including the situation in Gaza. We are concerned by reports that Hamas continue to acquire and test a variety of weapons. This is a continuing picture and we are not able to comment further on the detail. However, we have long made it clear that the arming and funding of Hamas and other Palestinian rejectionist groups is unacceptable. We continue to call on Hamas to take concrete steps towards the Quartet principles: renouncing violence, recognising Israel and accepting previously signed agreements.”
• Lord Howell, Minister of State at the FCO, on whether HMG will include Hamas and Hizbollah in Peace Negotiations: “We firmly believe that peace in the Middle East should be a comprehensive peace, and all parties should behave constructively in ways which help the prospect of peace and negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis and on the Israel-Lebanon track. We urge Hamas to accept the quartet conditions and make credible movement towards renouncing violence, recognising Israel and accepting previously signed agreements. Peace should lead to the full integration of Israel in its regional environment, along the lines set out in the Arab Peace Initiative.”
• Alastair Burt on UK relations with Israel: “The UK remains a firm friend of Israel. The situation in Egypt does not change that. We remain of the view that there needs to be progress on the middle east peace process. We are working closely with the US and the EU to see a return to direct negotiations.”

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Israel, Palestine and Egypt

• Israel, the self-proclaimed ‘only democracy in the Middle East’ rallied in support of Mubarak’s regime.
• Jonathan Freedland: “When Egypt shakes, it should be no surprise that Israel trembles”.
• Ali Abunimah: “Egypt’s uprising and its implications for Palestine”.

Gaza and Political Theatre

• Israel’s ‘independent’ inquiry into its lethal assault on a Turkish aid ship, the Mavi Marmara, rules that Israel’s actions were justified under international law.
• Meanwhile, Salman Shaikh’s ‘Don’t Forget Gaza’ article in Foreign Policy says: “One point on which all Gazans can agree… is that the Israeli siege has to end. It has proved spectacularly counterproductive in its aim of weakening Hamas rule in Gaza. Instead, it has guaranteed Hamas rule.”
  

Post Palestine Papers

• Alastair Crooke, founder of Conflicts Forum and wanted in connection with the leaks: “What prospect for reconciliation?”
  

On TV

• Louis Theroux and the Ultra Zionists: BBC Documentary. Louis Theroux spends time with a small and very committed subculture of ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers. He discovers a group of people who consider it their religious and political obligation to populate some of the most sensitive and disputed areas of the West Bank.
• The Promise: New four-part drama on C4 about Mandate Palestine and present-day Palestine and Israel.
  

Last week in Parliament

• William Hague on the Israeli-Palestinian ‘Peace Process’: “Clearly all sides would have to make compromises to arrive at a two-state solution, and we have conveyed that message strongly to Israel in recent weeks. We have clearly expressed our disappointment that the settlement moratorium was not continued, and have made plain that we regard settlements as illegal. When Foreign Minister Lieberman of Israel visited London on Monday last week, I argued strongly that Israel needed to make the necessary compromises to allow direct talks to resume and to pave the way for a two-state solution. We will continue to convey that message.”
• Alistair Burt on the status of East Jerusalem: “The United Kingdom takes the view that East Jerusalem is occupied territory under international law, which is why we have called on Israel to cease building settlements, and to stop the evictions and demolitions. Such actions only obstruct the peace process, under which Jerusalem’s final status will be settled.”
• Question on Palestine in the Lords, including a statement from Lord Wallace: “My Lords, we are aware of the steps that some countries have taken in recognising the state of Palestine. However, we are clear that the only way to achieve a sovereign, viable and contiguous Palestinian state is through negotiations with Israel. Equally, the best way Israel can ensure its peace and security is through negotiations with the Palestinians.”

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Israel and Palestine:

• Israel’s ever friendly Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has rejected calls by his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd that Israel sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
• Binyamin Netanyahu has hailed the US climbdown over the settlement freeze/arms deal as “good for peace”. One wonders if the Americans agree.
• A group of 26 ex-EU leaders has urged the Union to impose sanctions on Israel for continuing to build settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.
• On Friday, Bolivia became the third South American state in recent weeks to recognise a Palestinian state on 1967 borders. European foreign ministers have ‘threatened’ to follow suit in order to punish Israeli refusal to halt illegal settlements.
• A US tourist was murdered and her friend stabbed in a forest near Jerusalem at the weekend. Police report that the pair were stabbed by Arabs in what is being considered as a politically-motivated attack.
• Rabbis from around the world have denounced the edict forbidding Jews from renting homes to Arabs.
• A ceremony to honour Palestinian firemen who helped to fight the worst brush fires in Israeli history was called off after the military failed to grant them entry permits in time.

Comment:

• Where are the wikileaks documents from the US Embassy in Israel’s capital, Tel Aviv? According to Brian Whitaker, ‘sensitive documents from Israel go through different channels – to the White House rather than the State Department – and are therefore not among the batch leaked to Julian Assange’.
• Interesting piece on Guardian’s Comment is Free: Palestinians’ future is in their hands: “The creation of a Palestinian state is closer than ever – but only if its leadership accepts Israel’s place on the map”.
• Electronic Intifada founder Ali Abunimah: “Israel leaves us no choice but to boycott“.
• Former Labour MP Denis MacShane: “The call to boycott Jewish commerce is Europe’s oldest political appeal.”
• Labour MP Gerald Kaufman: “Netanyahu’s refusal to have a peace policy will become a suicide note.”

In Parliament:

• Read the debate on Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill in the Commons, with interesting contributions by Gerald Kaufman, including “the hypocrisy of the Liberal Democrats on universal jurisdiction is unlimited, as on so many matters”.
• Read the debate in the Lords, introduced by Lord Fowler’s Question on Gaza: “To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to alleviate the hardships suffered by people living in Gaza”, with important contributions by Baroness Morris of Bolton and Lord Phillips of Sudbury.
• Discussion on economic development in the West Bank, with Alistair Burt confirming: “The economic development of the whole of west bank area and of Gaza is a crucial part of the development of the Palestinian state. The establishment of that valid state, side by side with a secure and recognised Israel, is of interest to us all.”
• Regarding the Gaza Aid Flotilla, Alistair Burt says that: “The establishment of an independent Israeli Commission of inquiry into the Gaza flotilla tragedy was an important step forward… We have also been in touch with the Commission regarding British witnesses giving testimony.”
• Political Director of Conservative Friends of Israel Robert Halfon MP enquires after the number of rocket attacks on Israel in 2010. Alistair Burt’s reply includes the comment: “The IDF note that at current levels 2010 is set to be the year with the lowest number of rocket attacks since 2002. This is small comfort to those at the receiving end and we continue to condemn all rocket attacks. Such acts of terrorism are indiscriminate and frequently target civilian populations. We call on all sides to halt acts of violence and focus efforts on a negotiated solution.”
• Baroness Tonge asks HMG “what assessment they have made of the adherence to human rights clauses in the EU-Israel Association agreements”, with the response that a recent report “highlighted that international democracy indexes rank Israel at levels comparable to EU member states but more efforts were needed to address the economic and social situation of the Arab minority and enhance their integration in Israeli society.”

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Israel and Palestine

• According to a report from 21 international organisations, Gaza’s 1.5 million people are still suffering from a shortage of construction materials, a ban on exports and severe restrictions on movement six months after Israel agreed to ease its blockade on the territory.
• Amnesty International describes the UJ parliamentary legislation as ‘dangerous and unnecessary’. Director Kate Allen said: “the UK will have undermined the fight for international justice and handed war criminals a free ticket to escape the law.”
• Brazil’s outgoing President, Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, officially acknowledged Palestinian sovereignty over territory occupied by Israel since 1967. More than 100 states have recognised Palestinian statehood; Brazil is the last of the ‘BRIC’ powers to do so.
• Fires in Carmel: Israeli and other firefighters have succeeded in overcoming the worst fire disaster the country has known. The fires killed 41 people and caused NIS 250 million in damage. Read more here.
• Israel has instructed its embassies in 10 European countries, including the UK, each to recruit 1,000 members of the public to act as advocates for its policies in a new public relations offensive.
• Wikileaks: The Jerusalem Fund have compiled at ‘Top 10 Wikileaks Palestine Nuggets’.
• Yvette Cooper calls for Israeli Settler labelling on food imports.

In Parliament: Government Written Answers, Lords

• On Israel as de facto occupying power of Gaza: “Although there is no permanent physical Israeli presence in Gaza, given the significant control that Israel has over Gaza’s borders, airspace and territorial waters, the UK judges that Israel retains obligations under the fourth Geneva Convention as an occupying power.”
• On the proposed settlement re-freeze: “A renewal of the earlier freeze, which excluded east Jerusalem, could be a helpful step forward enabling the continuation of direct talks, which are necessary to secure peace.”
• On Palestinian Authority textbooks: “We take seriously any reports of text-books being used to promote anti-Semitism. We also recognise this is a controversial area. However, recent independent studies have shown that the Palestinian Authority has made real improvements to its text-books over the last decade and found no evidence of anti-Semitism. But at least one study has shown that both Israeli and Palestinian text-books could do better and teach something positive about the other side. We support that message.”
• On Israeli checkpoints: “We agree that Israel’s system of check points and the processes for moving through them are confusing and frustrating. This applies both to check points between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and to check points within the West Bank, which seriously impede freedom of movement for Palestinians. We are also concerned at the way check points are used to change facts on the ground.”
• On East Jerusalem and Gaza: “My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary made it clear during his recent visit to the region that we want to see an end to all settlement activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This includes East Jerusalem. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary also discussed the situation in Gaza with Prime Minister Netanyahu, underlining that we welcome the steps that Israel has taken thus far to improve access but believe that further measures are needed.”

Government Written Answers, Commons

• On Israel’s illegal ‘security fence’: “There are no reliable statistics on the effectiveness of Israel’s security barrier, which was commissioned following the 2nd intifada of 2000. Although we believe Israel has every right to defend itself, we believe that barriers are not the best way to achieve this in the 21st century. Where it is constructed outside of Green Line Israel, the Israeli separation barrier is illegal both according to international and Israeli law. It is worth noting that the barrier on some 40% of the intended route remains unbuilt. We judge that Prime Minister Fayyad’s reform of the Palestinian security sector has played the most significant part in reducing the violence committed by Palestinian groups against targets in Israel. The best way of ensuring Israel’s security is to come to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace agreement with its neighbours.”
• On UK Aid for Palestinians: “UK bilateral aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) reported in Statistics on International Development 2010 totalled £57.6 million in 2009-10, £41.3 million in 2008-09 and £45 million in 2007-08.
• On smuggling arms into Gaza: “… weapons continue to be smuggled into Gaza, which is a cause of great concern. We continue to work with the international community to support all efforts to implement the steps set out in UNSCR 1860… including the prevention and interdiction of illicitly trafficked arms into Gaza and the alleviation of the humanitarian and economic situation.”

Parliamentary Debates

• Human Rights Debate in the Lords:
  Conservative Baroness Morris of Bolton (Chairman of CMEC) spoke of her recent visit to Gaza, and more specifically – about the lack of spare parts in hospitals, the issue of food distribution, and the future of Gaza’s children. Lord Wright of Richmond (Crossbench) discussed ‘the appalling abuse of the human rights of Palestinians in Gaza, in the occupied West Bank and in east Jerusalem.’
• PMQ in the Commons:
  Grahame Morris MP (Labour; probably no relation) reported seeing ‘13-year-old Palestinian children in leg irons and manacles in Israeli military prisons’ as ‘one of numerous breaches of the UN charter and of article 49 of the fourth Geneva convention’ on a recent visit to Israel and the West Bank.
• PM David Cameron responded: ‘Every country should obey the Geneva convention and the other conventions that it has signed, and Israel should be no exception to that… It is very important that we put pressure on both sides at all times to ensure that we make progress. The lack of progress only plays into the hands of the extremists, and we can see that all the moderates in the Middle East who are trying to make progress are being undermined by our failure to do better.’

Also:

• Palestine Legal Aid Fund is having a Fundraiser for Palestine on the evening of Thursday 9^th December, at Old Finsbury Town Hall in London – take a look.
• Test your knowledge on Gaza! Try CAABU’s Gaza quiz.
• Follow us on facebook and twitter!

All feedback to info@ldfp.eu. Links do not necessarily imply endorsement. Have a great week!

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Israel/Palestine in British Politics

• British foreign policy is to reach out more to Gulf States in order to secure better diplomatic and trade ties. Whitehall officials say the implications of this mean that Britain had to ‘take on board’ Arab foreign policy goals, although William Hague later stated that the development will not be at ‘the expense of Israel or anyone else’.
• The Jewish Chronicle reported that one of British Jewry’s most senior leaders, Mick Davis, this week shattered a ‘longstanding taboo’ by publicly criticising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the peace process.
• Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne gave a speech to the Board of Deputies of British Jews 250th anniversary dinner. As well as giving the standard Conservative line on Universal Jurisdiction, Osborne described the UK as ‘candid friend’ of Israel. The JC took this in a positive light, but neither MEMO nor Melanie Phillips were impressed, the latter deciding that ‘Britain is now a false friend of Israel — and stands as a result on the wrong side of history’.

Parliamentary Questions

• The House of Lords saw questions from Lord Hylton about the need to increase the number of patients from Gaza who are permitted to travel to the West Bank and Israel for medical treatment; the possibility of the full opening of the Karni crossing so as to reduce the chance of a shortage of wheat in Gaza; the lack of cement, aggregate, steel and glass reaching Gaza; and, the earliest possible elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council.
• Lord Hylton also asked what the UK is doing to protect the Bedouin living in 45 unrecognised villages in the Israeli Negev, to which Lord Howell (Minister of State, FCO) responded: ‘…we are concerned by the treatment of Arab minorities in Israel. Our ambassador to Israel has raised this with the Israeli authorities on several occasions; we will continue to do so as necessary’.
• Lib Dem Lord Dykes enquired about the release of Palestinian detainees held in detention without due process, when the Government next expect to meet Israeli officials about concessions on stopping settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and whether the Government will press the Israeli Government to develop financial packages to help settlers in the occupied territories to start up residence in Israel proper.
• Lib Dem MP Bob Russell asked after the human rights issues surrounding the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and further that ‘no further moves be made to develop closer political and economic ties with Israel until the terms of the agreement have been satisfied’.
• David Amess, Officer of CFOI Parliamentary Group, asked the Secretary of State about ensuring Hamas accepts the Quartet Principles.

Israel and Palestine

• Human Rights groups have responded to the outcome of the case in which Israeli soldiers who used a boy as a human shield escaped jail. Gerard Horton, a spokesman in the West Bank for Geneva-based rights group Defence for Children International (DCI), described the sentence as “unbelievable.”
• The Israeli parliament approved legislation that requires any peace deal involving withdrawal by Israel from annexed territory in East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights to be ratified by national referendum.
• Experts suggest that this development will initially make it more difficult to approve withdrawal from these occupied territories, but, given as the legislation necessarily involves the Israeli demos, it may also offer the BDS movement an additional catalyst for mobilisation.
• Ehud Olmert, former Israeli PM, said that Israel and the US have wasted 18 months on settlements talks rather than talks of ‘substance’.
• The Occupied Palestinian West Bank has seen the lowest IDF troop levels since the first intifada, although there has been no similar reduction in the scope of resources dedicated to surveillance, intelligence gathering and special operations.

Also of note…

• The ‘UN will be judged on whether it upholds Palestinian rights’, said Richard Falk in his final report to the UN General Assembly as Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. Read the full text of his presentation here.
• Watch the short film LDFP posted on how difficult economic and social development is within Gaza whilst under blockade here.
• And – subscribe to our excellent (if irregular!) podcast here.

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Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems

• Lib Dems and others have spoken out against Nick Clegg’s wavering stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• Read Clegg’s speech in full here or watch the video here.
• Read our LDFP Comment Piece: “Mr Clegg, the Lib Dems, and the small case of international law…”
• Read MEMO’s open letter to the Deputy PM here.
• Elsewhere in the news this week: Lib Dems Jenny Tonge and Lord Phillips have resisted Clegg’s line.

In Parliament

• David Amess asks after the 505 Israeli road blocks in the Occupied Palestinian West Bank (down from 626 last year).
• Lord Hylton enquires after the demolitions of 315 Palestinian-owned structures in East Jerusalem and Area C this year. Lord Howell comments that “We do not recognise Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem. House demolitions or the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem are deeply unhelpful.”
• Alistair Burt explains what the Secretary of State has been doing to achieve a two-state solution.
• Nick de Bois asks Ken Clarke some pertinent questions about Universal Jurisdiction.
• And Jenny Tonge makes a lengthy contribution to the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The Jerusalem Post scores a journalism fail in its headline misquotation of her remarks, as noted here.
• Don’t forget this Wednesday is the Annual Lobby of Parliament for Palestine. Read more about it on the PSC website.

Peace Talks

• The US has offered a large bribe (namely military hardware) for a three month freeze in the building of illegal colonies in the West Bank. Some settlers, deeply troubled with this dangerous proposal, are to pitch a protest tent outside the Israeli PM’s office.
• A senior Israeli official has warned that Hamas and Israeli terrorists will attempt to sabotage the ‘peace process’.

Gaza

• Gisha (Israeli human rights organisation) has obtained documents revealing that the Israeli state approved ‘a policy of deliberate reduction’ for basic goods in the Gaza Strip.
• Israel’s Ambassador to the UN filed an official complaint on Saturday regarding rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Air Force has already struck back.

West Bank

• Israel has approved a $23m plan to develop the Western Wall plaza, which just so happens to be in the Occupied West Bank.
• Interesting piece in CSM: ‘Five Largest Israeli settlements: who lives there, and why’.

And elsewhere…

• Two Israeli soldiers convicted of using a Palestinian child as a human shield during an offensive in Gaza in 2009 have received suspended sentences and been demoted.
• MEMO has an interview with Ahdaf Soueif, an Egyptian novelist who initiated the first Palestinian festival of literature in 2008.
• The AIPAC espionage case in Washington takes a curious series of twists.

Events

• Comedian Mark Thomas has a new tour: ‘Extreme Rambling: Walking the Wall’, about his walk of the entire length of the Israeli Separation Barrier. See his website for more details.
• On Wednesday 1st December Professor Richard Falk (United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Human Rights) will be giving a public lecture on the subject of “The Israeli assault on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. See MEMO’s website for more details.

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Britain and Israel

• Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Israel and the Occupied West Bank last week.
• See summaries from the BBC (incl. video) and the Guardian.
• Read comment pieces by Stephen Pollard, “William Hague is an enemy of Iran, and that’s good enough for Israel”, and David Pratt, “It is criminal how Britain grovels to Israeli bullying”.

• Universal Jurisdiction remains the issue in British-Israeli relations.
• William Hague: Changes to the legislation “will be in place next year”.
• Labour leader Ed Miliband this week: “I don’t think the current situation is a good one to be in. Clearly not.”

• EDM 108:
• Wednesday’s editorial in the Jerusalem Post: “William Hague is thoroughly welcome here. His Israeli counterparts have the right to expect precisely the same hospitality in the UK.”
• Well, not if war crimes are an issue.
• Has your MP signed EDM108?
• This Early Day Motion “…believes that universal jurisdiction for human rights abuses is essential as part of the cause of bringing to justice those who commit crimes against humanity and will oppose any legislation to restrict this power of UK courts.”
• If your MP has not, use PSC’s excellent e-tool and tell them to do so.

In Parliament

• Baroness Jenny Tonge tabled a question asking the Government “What representations they have made to the government of Israel concerning the four Palestinian Members of Parliament being deported from East Jerusalem?”
• The ensuing debate, which includes important contributions from Lib Dems Lord Dykes, Lord Phillips and Lord Wallace makes for instructive reading.
• Lib Dem MP David Ward asked after the same issue in the Commons. Ward visited Gaza in October as part of a parliamentary delegation led by CAABU.

• In the Lords, members debated Lord Hylton’s question that asked the Government “whether they will work for a comprehensive agreement covering all refugees arising from the Middle East since 1948.”
• The following debate touched on the issues of ‘The Right of Return’, Jews in Muslim-majority countries, the illegal West Bank settlements, and the Palestinian populations in Jordan and Lebanon.
• Baroness Verma spoke on Palestinian access to water and sanitation in the West Bank: “[It] is severely constrained by Israeli movement and access restrictions, particularly in Area C, covering 62 per cent of the West Bank, and around Israeli settlement blocks. Israel has eased some restrictions on movement and access in the West Bank, but we call on them to go further.”

• In the Commons, Alastair Burt reiterated that official UK policy on the Peace Talks is to “do all that we can to support progress towards a two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
• Interestingly, Burt also noted that: “This conflict matters to British national security and we will take every opportunity to help promote peace.”
• Minister of State for International Development, Alan Duncan, said in a written response about the humanitarian situation in Gaza: Approximately 75% of Gazans are dependent on food aid and cannot obtain materials needed to rebuild their homes. The water and sewage system is dilapidated, with 90% of mains water unfit for drinking. Many people continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress and other psychological disorders.

And elsewhere…

• Lib Dem Presidential hopeful Tim Farron tells LDFP that, if elected, “I will ensure that within the coalition the Liberal Democrats seek to influence policy to move towards seeking a peaceful two state solution and speaking out against abuses”. See our presidential election page here. We are yet to hear from Tim’s rival Susan Kramer regarding her views on Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
• Check the incisive piece on Avigdor Lieberman on Joshua Landis’ brilliant ‘Syria Comment’ blog, “Here are five reasons why I believe Netanyahu chose Lieberman as Israel’s Foreign Minister, and for now, prefers to keep him there”.
• Watch the video interview with Haneen Zoabi (Arab-Israeli MK) on EI. Zoabi argues that: “there is now “no chance” for a two-state solution in Palestine.”
• Ever wondered about the economics of the Occupation? Read the report, “Financing the Israeli Occupation“ by the Coalition of Women for Peace available from Al-Zaytouna, or the EI review of Shir Hever’s “The Political Economy of Israel’s Occupation”.
• And finally, Israel’s Labour Party threatens to walk out of the coalition government unless negotiations with the Palestinians get under way.

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