MPs shamefully urge PM Johnson to sanction Israel if it annexes parts of Judea and Samaria

More than 130 British politicians and peers have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson urging him to sanction Israel if the Jewish state annexes parts of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank).

The anti-Israel letter was organized by the Council for Arab British Understanding and includes many of the usual suspects when it comes to anti-Israel activists in parliament, such as Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott. However, the list also includes MPs like Dame Margaret Hodge, a Labour MP who was a victim of anti-Semitic abuse from within her own party during Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as party leader. It is sad then to see that Hodge has aligned herself with politicians who have in the past espouses strong anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic views.

The Guardian was the first to report the letter and said it comes as Britain joined a diplomatic initiative by 10 European countries warning the Israeli foreign ministry against annexation. Whilst it is expected for the UK to condemn any move by Israel to annex parts of Judea and Samaria, imposing sanctions would be unprecedented.

The signatories of the letter argue that any annexation by Israel would act as a “mortal blow” to the peace process.

The main example the letter uses to justify its call for sanctions comes from the UK sanctioning Russia when it invaded Crimea. However, this is an unfair comparison which falls flat when you consider the differences between the two instances.

Risto Huvala writes in the Times of Israel that this kind of comparison is driven by ignorance and bias, saying:

What could be more wrong than equalizing the Russian invasion and annexation of Crimea with the recent Israeli annexation plan?

Whereas the Russians just marched into Crimea, without any prior hostility by the Ukrainians, Israel ended up conquering the Jordan Valley in the defending war which was started by neighboring countries. And whereas Crimea was a legitimate part of the Republic of Ukraine, the Jordan Valley was no man’s land, and, at that time, was occupied by Jordan since 1948, which no international body ever criticized or resisted.

For decades, the Palestinian false narrative has created a widely received impression that the “occupied territories” belong to the “State of Palestine”. The fact is that such a state has never existed and the Jordan Valley and West Bank have never belonged to any other state than the United Kingdom of Israel 3000 years ago.

If you would like to learn more about Israel’s legal rights to Judea and Samaria, click here.

There is also a double standard at work with how these politicians are strongly opposing Israel’s actions whilst they are failing to hold the Palestinian leadership to account for their numerous actions that go against international law and human rights.

These same politicians are silent when Palestinian terrorists unleash deadly attacks against Jewish civilians in Israel. In fact, the UK continues to fund the Palestinian Authority, which pays over £100 million to terrorist salaries each year, without any request for change or any protest from these politicians.

Instead, there are many on the list who call for an ending of trade with Israel despite the fact that many essential services in the UK benefit from the close relationship between the UK and Israel.

To find out more about Israel’s relationship with the UK, watch CUFI’s interview with Vivian Aisen, Director of Public Diplomacy at the Israeli Embassy in London.

Full list of signatories:

Rt Hon Diane Abbott MP

Debbie Abrahams MP

Lord John Alderdice

Rushanara Ali MP

Tahir Ali MP

Lord David Anderson of Ipswich QC

Tonia Antoniazzi MP

Hannah Bardell MP

Paula Barker MP

Apsana Begum MP

Clive Betts MP

Mhairi Black MP

Rt Hon Baroness Tessa Blackstone

Paul Blomfield MP

Baroness Christine Blower

Crispin Blunt MP

Steven Bonnar MP

Tracy Brabin MP

Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw MP

Alan Brown MP

Ruth Cadbury MP

Rt Hon Lord Menzies Campbell of Pittenweem QC

Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP

Wendy Chamberlain MP

Sarah Champion MP

Douglas Chapman MP

Joanna Cherry QC MP

Feryal Clark MP

Daisy Cooper MP

Rt Hon Lord John Cope of Berkeley

Rt Hon Jeremy Corbyn MP

Neil Coyle MP

Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP

Martyn Day MP

Martin Docherty-Hughes MP

Dave Doogan MP

Allan Dorans MP

Lord Alf Dubs

Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan

Julie Elliott MP

Stephen Farry MP

Marion Fellows MP

Margaret Ferrier MP

Stephen Flynn MP

Rt Hon Lord Edward Garnier QC

Richard Graham MP

Neil Gray MP

Lord Tony Greaves

Lord Andrew Green of Deddington

Lilian Greenwood MP

Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC

Rt Hon Lord Bruce Grocott

Rt Hon Lord Peter Hain

Lord David Hannay of Chiswick

Rt Hon Baroness Helene Hayman

Drew Hendry MP

Wera Hobhouse MP

Rt Hon Dame Margaret Hodge MP

Kate Hollern MP

Lord Clive Hollick

Baroness Sheila Hollins

Rachel Hopkins MP

Stewart Hosie MP

Dr Rupa Huq MP

Imran Hussain MP

Lord Qurban Hussain

Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece

Lord Raymond Hylton

Baroness Barbara Janke

Christine Jardine MP

Lord Michael Jay of Ewelme

Dame Diana Johnson MP

Kim Johnson MP

Baroness Judith Jolly

Rt Hon David Jones MP

Baroness Jenny Jones of Moulsecoomb

Lord Frank Judd

Baroness Helena Kennedy of The Shaws QC

Afzal Khan MP

Stephen Kinnock MP

Ben Lake MP

Rt Hon Sir Edward Leigh MP

Clive Lewis MP

Baroness Ruth Lister of Burtersett

Tony Lloyd MP

Rt Hon the Marquess of Lothian QC

Tim Loughton MP

Caroline Lucas MP

Kenny MacAskill MP

Angus Brendan MacNeil MP

Stewart McDonald MP

Stuart McDonald MP

John McNally MP

Shabana Mahmood MP

Seema Malhotra MP

Baroness Molly Meacher

Mark Menzies MP

Baroness Sue Miller of Chilthorne Domer

Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP

Carol Monaghan MP

Layla Moran MP

Grahame Morris MP

Rt Hon Lord Dick Newby

Gavin Newlands MP

John Nicolson MP

Rt Hon Baroness Lindsay Northover

Lord Jonny Oates

Brendan O’Hara MP

Sarah Olney MP

Kate Osamor MP

Kate Osborne MP

Rt Hon Lord Chris Patten of Barnes

Baroness Kath Pinnock

Lord Jeremy Purvis of Tweed

Yasmin Qureshi MP

Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP

Liz Saville-Roberts MP

Andrew Selous MP

Naz Shah MP

Baroness Shas Sheehan

Tommy Sheppard MP

Andy Slaughter MP

Alyn Smith MP

Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames

Chris Stephens MP

Jamie Stone MP

Lord Paul Strasburger

Zarah Sultana MP

Sam Tarry MP

Owen Thompson MP

Richard Thomson MP

Rt Hon Lord Paul Tyler

Rt Hon Lord Jim Wallace of Tankerness

Rt Hon Lord William Wallace of Saltaire

David Warburton MP

Rt Hon Lord Norman Warner

Rt Hon Baroness Sayeeda Warsi

Claudia Webbe MP

Baroness Janet Whitaker

Dr Philippa Whitford MP

Nadia Whittome MP

Munira Wilson MP

Beth Winter MP

Lord Stewart Wood of Anfield

Mohammad Yasin MP

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