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.
CUFI UK interviews Vivian Aisen from the Israeli Embassy in London
We are delighted to invite you to join CUFI for a video call with the Israeli Embassy in London on Wednesday, 29th April at 1:30pm (UK time).Taking place on the special occasion of Israel's Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut), Vivian Aisen, Director of Public Diplomacy, will very kindly be taking questions from our supporters sent to CUFI in advance. You will be able to watch the interview here and also on our Facebook page.We look forward to you joining us on Israel's Independence Day!* Please note that due to time we may not be able to ask all questions sent to us.
Posted by Christians United for Israel – UK on Wednesday, 29 April 2020
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
We call upon the UK Government to officially recognise Jerusalem is Israel's capital and move its embassy to Jerusalem.
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