Hi John,
Today, we have written to the government to demand that the UK suspends its trade agreement with Israel and ends negotiations around a deeper free trade deal.(1)
We believe this action is necessary, not only to put pressure on Israel to end its attack on Gaza, but to ensure the UK complies with international law.
In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s decades-long occupation of the Palestinian Territory is illegal.(2)
Human rights groups have long campaigned against Israel’s system of racist discrimination there, but this new ruling has placed an obligation on all countries not to aid or assist Israel's illegal occupation.(3)
Yet just weeks after the ICJ’s ruling, Keir Starmer’s government announced that a new deal with Israel was among its top trade priorities.(4)
Not only did this announcement provide Israel with diplomatic cover during its horrific attacks on Gaza – the UK also appears to be seeking deeper ties with sectors involved in breaches of international law.
We need to show the new business and trade secretary that people up and down the country are appalled by the UK’s plans to deepen trade relations with Israel, a country under investigation for genocide. Will you write to him and urge him to suspend trade talks and privileges with Israel?
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We know that any agreement that helps Israel to profit from its unlawful occupation will almost certainly place the UK in breach of international law.(5)
Yet the UK’s current strategy for deepening trade with Israel targets industries like technology and AI, sectors with close relationships to Israel’s military and clear involvement in human rights abuses.(6)
And even without a new and deeper agreement, the UK’s existing trade relationship with Israel already supports the illegal occupation.
The UK continues to allow the import of goods from illegal settlements as well as products based on technologies developed to facilitate the occupation or tested there.(7)
Previous ICJ statements have also held that countries should use appropriate means to deter a country suspected of genocide.(8) However, by making plans to deepen trade ties with Israel at this time, the UK simply looks as if it wants to appease Israel.
Another 24 organisations have co-signed our letter, including Amnesty International and Oxfam – and we are determined for the government to change course.
Can you write to the business and trade secretary today?
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I hope you will join us in sending a loud message to the government that there can be no ‘business-as-usual' with Israel. Trade talks and privileges must be suspended until Israel ends its violations of Palestinian human rights, once and for all.
Thank you,
Tim Bierley
Campaigner, Global Justice Now
P.S. After writing to the government, can you help us get the message out by sharing our posts on social media?
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Notes
1. UK must suspend trade talks and privileges with Israel, NGOs say, Global Justice Now, 20 September 2024
2. UN top court says Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, BBC News, 19 July 2024
3. Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity, Amnesty International, 1 February 2022
4. UK’s Pursuit of Closer Trade Ties With Israel Risks Rewarding it for War Crimes, Tim Bierley, Byline Times, 6 August 2024
5. It seems clear the UK has assisted Israel’s breaches of international law. Surely Labour can do better than deny it, Sam Fowles, Guardian, 26 August 2024
6. UK-Israel free trade agreement: strategic approach, UK Government, July 2022; Israel's AI revolution: from innovation to occupation, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2 November 2023
7. Why the UK should ban Israeli settlement goods, Amnesty International, September 2023; Israel’s arms industry and its links with the UK, Campaign Against Arms Trade, 7 October 2021; UK weapons and Israel’s use of force against civilians, War on Want, September 2021>
8. Israel’s war on Gaza and the ‘obligation to prevent genocide’, Al Jazeera, 9 January 2024
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