Hi John,
On Friday, the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that all countries have an obligation not to give aid or support to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories – in a ruling which found that Israel’s policies and restrictions on Palestinians amount to apartheid.(1)
The ICJ’s demand for all states to recognise the military occupation as illegal represents a clear line in the sand – and places the onus on countries like the UK to take measures to end the occupation.
Labour’s new foreign secretary David Lammy has said repeatedly that he is committed to upholding international law. Clearly, he cannot do that without halting weapons deliveries to Israel.
It is now more than two weeks since the foreign secretary said he would review the legal evidence on arms sales in light of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. In the time the government has spent pondering the evidence, Israel has carried out multiple attacks on refugee camps,(2,3,4) bombed five schools, killing dozens of people sheltering in them,(5) and in a disastrous health development, polio has been found in sewage samples in Gaza.(6)
It’s not clear why the foreign secretary has not yet made this decision, but we need to ensure that he feels under more pressure with every passing day.
Will you write to David Lammy now and demand he ends arms sales to Israel?
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The court’s ruling is separate to the genocide investigation which began after Israel’s most recent assault on Gaza, and focuses more directly on Israel’s decades-long occupation of the West Bank, the area of Palestinian territory on the west bank of the Jordan River.
But it only reinforces the clear moral imperative for the UK to end arms sales now. An arms embargo is needed first and most urgently to put pressure on Israel to end its invasion of Gaza. But this ruling makes clear that Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territories is an ongoing breach of international law. The UK continuing to provide weapons for that occupation would amount to propping up apartheid.
The ICJ carefully documented a long series of laws which it found Israel in breach of. These included the forced eviction of Palestinians from their homes; mass house demolitions; restricting Palestinian’s movement and their access to water; and Israel using its power as an occupying force to make use of Palestinian resources.(7)
The court ordered Israel to end its military occupation as soon as possible, but just as the country’s leaders have resisted all calls to end the devastating attacks on Gaza, they have already said they will not back down.(8)
One key reason Israel is able to do this is because it maintains the political and material backing of countries like the UK.
We desperately need the new Labour government to mark a break from its predecessor and show it will not support and abet Israel’s crimes, starting with an embargo on arms sales today.
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Several countries, including Canada, Spain and Italy have already taken steps to end arms sales to Israel.(9) In opposition, David Lammy said he was concerned about UK-made weapons being used to commit war crimes.(10) Israel is bombing civilian populations without relent. We must demand the government shows a backbone and acts now.
Thank you,
Tim Bierley
Campaigner, Global Justice Now
- Summary of the Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024, ICJ, 19 July 2024
- ‘Torn up bodies’: Israel intensifies bombing campaign in Gaza, Al Jazeera, 20 July 2024
- Israeli attack on al-Mawasi kills at least 90 people: What we know so far, Al Jazeera, 13 July 2024
- Israeli airstrikes kill at least 13 people in Gaza refugee camps as cease-fire talks grind on, CBS, 20 July 2024
- Israel strikes five schools in week of ‘massacres’, Al Jazeera, 15 July 2024
- Highly infectious poliovirus found in Gaza sewage samples, Guardian, 19 July 2024
- UN court orders Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, Guardian, 19 July 2024
- Israel PM Slams ICJ Ruling As 'Decision Of Lies', Barron’s, 19 July 2024
- Canada stops arms sales to Israel: Who else has blocked weapons exports? Al Jazeera, 1 February 2024
- UK warns Israel over Rafah war crimes risk, iNews, 7 May 2024
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