Ed Miliband began his statement on Israel-Palestine by telling the nation about his unshakable devotion to Israel despite its 78 years of relentless terror, theft and slaughter. The message was clear enough: another Israeli stooge is in charge of OUR foreign affairs.
He then followed up with an assortment of disinformation, Mickey-Mouse measures and other nonsense.
I say to anyone here or around the world who questions Israel’s right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people: you are wrong and we will call you out whenever you engage in this attempt at the erasure of Israel.
Israel still hasn’t declared its borders, and Plan Dalet (drawn up on Ben-Gurion’s orders) sets out a terror blueprint for the brutal takeover of the whole of Palestine, which it has doggedly pursued since 1948. Furthermore Israel declared that, as a peace-loving state, it “unreservedly accepts the obligations of the United Nations Charter and undertakes to honour them” (Resolution 273), but has consistently failed to do so. And it continues to ignore Resolution 194 which deals with repatriation of Palestinian refugees, payment of compensation, and the agreement that Jerusalem becomes a ‘corpus separatum’, i.e. an international city.
With their roots in Poland it seems unlikely that the Milibands, for example, have ancestral links to the ancient Holy Land or legitimate claim to a slice of it any more than I, a Christian outlander, have.
Miliband claims Hamas’s breakout on October 7 “was a murderous act by a murderous terrorist organisation designed to massacre and instil fear across a whole population. October 7th makes plain the grave threats that Israel faces. And it has every right to defend itself.”
He forgets that 5,200 Palestinian hostages including women and children, snatched from their homes, were rotting in Israeli jails without trial or due process on October 7. And in the 23 years up to October 7 Israel had been slaughtering Palestinians at the rate of 8 to 1 and children at the rate of 16 to 1. Actual figures (from Israel’s B’Tselem): Palestinians killed by Israelis 10,651, Israelis killed by Palestinians 1,330; includes 2,270 Palestinian children murdered versus 145 Israeli children, and 656 Palestinian women versus 261 Israeli women. Of course, Miliband doesn’t mention the terror inflicted by Israel on Gaza for the 17 years before October 7, the cruel blockade and “mowing the grass”. Or the decades before then of systematic thieving of land and forced displacement of Palestinians from their homes and livelihoods.
UN Resolution 3246 calls for all States to recognize the right to self-determination and independence for all peoples subject to colonial and foreign domination and alien subjugation, and to assist them in their struggle. Furthermore 3246 reaffirms the Palestinians’ right to use “all available means, including armed struggle” in their fight for freedom. UN Resolution 37/43 also gives them the right to “eliminate the threat posed by Israel by all available means….” and to fight for “liberation from colonial domination, apartheid and foreign occupation by all available means….” . They also have an inalienable right to self-government (i.e. statehood) without the say-so of anyone else such as the US, UK or Israel. Importantly, Israel has no right of self-defence against a threat from territory it illegally occupies by military force. Likewise the US, UK and Israel have no right to force regime change in Palestine.
I am proud of my Jewishness and unwavering in my support for the State of Israel…. there is absolutely no contradiction between this and my support for the State of Palestine. Indeed quite the opposite.
Such an idiotic remark when Israel is governed by genocidal maniacs whose inhuman policies are supported by the majority of Israeli people.
The only route to security for both peoples is to live side by side in peaceful co-existence with freedom, security and self-determination…. Securing the two-state solution in its fullest form is the North Star of this government’s policy.
Miliband is 20 years behind the times if he still believes this. Can he describe what two states would look like? No, those who preach about it never can. The 2-state solution is long dead – Israel was allowed to make sure of that.
“Today I announce that the official view of the British Government is that the occupation is unlawful.”
While everyone else and his dog has known it for decades.
“Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. So we are also acting this week to report Iran to the UN Security Council for its nuclear violations…. we are also reimposing major economic sanctions on Iran in line with the European Union and the United States.”
Oh, so how safe is the rest of the world under the threat of Israel’s 200 (or is it 400?) nukes? Israel is the only state in the region not to have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It hasn’t signed the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention either. It has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, similarly the Chemical Weapons Convention.
“Israel has the right not to live in fear of vile terrorism.”
So has Palestine. So has Lebanon.
He mentioned “the shared national security interests we have with Israel, on which we will continue to co-operate.”
Our security and other tie-ups with the world’s worst genocidists need an urgent rethink.
“Hamas can play no role in the future governance of Gaza, it must decommission its weapons and must dismantle its terrorist infrastructure.”
This contradicts Miliband’s professed support for Palestinian self-determination which means the Palestinians alone decide who governs. And who in their right mind would surrender their weapons while still under Israel’s military jackboot? He ignores the fact that Hamas won the last election fair and square under the scrutiny of international observers and have been the legitimate rulers in Gaza since 2006, severely hampered by Israel’s illegal blockade.
“We will take action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion.”
Why the emphasis on expansion of settlements? What about the 350 that already exist? Israel’s settlement programme began with the Allon Plan of 1967 seizing Palestinian territory for military use and later transferring Israeli civilians into it. Throughout the West Bank Israel has been busy for decades establishing ‘facts on the ground’ by using lethal military force and implanting settlers to secure pseudo-sovereignty over the territory. And the Israeli government has been keen to encourage the building of synagogues in the settlements to consolidate their position and give the criminal project a veneer of sanctity.
As has been said time and again, planting squatters on Palestinian land in the hope of eventually acquiring sovereignty is a violation of occupation law and a war crime on the part of the individuals involved. Israel also violates its legal obligation to respect the sovereignty of another state and that state’s right to self-determination. What’s more, Israel violates its obligations under the international law on the use of force. Ending these violations requires immediate removal of the squatters from occupied land and an immediate end to Israel’s exercise of control, including its use of military force. That’s the first step for arriving at a true peace, before returning to the negotiating table.
“The sanctions regime will target illegal settlements and settlement expansion, not Israel.”
Squatters and those who sent them are both classed as war criminals. The sanctions target should therefore be the Israeli government.
“We will continue to support important and valued trade with green line Israel precisely because we support the two state solution, including security and prosperity for Israel. For this reason, I wholeheartedly oppose the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions or BDS campaign.”
A bogus excuse for keeping trade with Israel going. Supporting something that’s long been dead – the 2-state solution – is not very bright. And who cares if he opposes BDS? Plenty of sensible people approve it and practise it.
“We have already suspended over 30 arms licences used by the IDF in Gaza. That suspension remains fully in place. We will now also refuse all licence applications for arms and other exports that materially contribute to the occupation, in effect a double lock against arms sales. This means the ban on such exports will now remain as long as the occupation persists.”
Ludicrous statement. Presumably the 300 remaining licences for supplying weapons to Israel are still ‘live’.
“We act on settler violence.”
Have those thugs taken the slightest notice? You need to act against the criminals who sent them there.
“We support accountability for what has happened in Gaza.”
What accountability? In 20 years there hasn’t been any.
“And we pledge to galvanise the international community to confront the ongoing and urgent humanitarian crisis.”
That’ll be the day.
“If we fail to stand up for the values that this country has long held and fought for, we lose credibility and influence in the world.”
That has already happened, Mr Miliband, in case you hadn’t noticed.
“We will also lend the UK’s voice to the growing global alliance of countries…. calling for the full implementation of the US-led 20 point plan.”
Trump’s ‘plan’ is clearly not aligned with international or humanitarian law and the UN’s team of experts listed 15 serious objections to it. Yet your government approved it at the Security Council.
“The legislation I have announced today will be in place within 6 to 9 months.”
No hurry then, while the slaughter and misery continue.
Silly Milly.