LONDON: Hundreds of British MPs have publicly called for a full ban on trade and financial deals with illegal Israeli settlements.
The 238 MPs, representing more than a third of Parliament, comprise 141 Labour members, 63 Liberal Democrats, two Conservatives, seven independents, seven from Sinn Fein, four from the Scottish National Party, four Greens, four from Plaid Cymru, two from the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and one from the Alliance Party.
They include the 140 Labour MPs who signed a recent letter proposing the same ban, as well as those who signed a letter by the Council for Arab-British Understanding calling for a ban in March this year.
CAABU has long called for such a move in view of the UK’s decades-long recognition of Israeli settlements as illegal under international law.
“That 238 British MPs are prepared publicly to state their call for a complete ban on all trade and financial dealings with Israel’s illegal settlements shows that, increasingly, this is supported across the British political establishment,” the council’s director, Chris Doyle, told Arab News.
“Notably, a huge number of these are Labour MPs, and the prime minister would be wise to look at the widespread support for such a ban among backbench Labour MPs, but also in the party as a whole.
“Those who are considering running for leadership of the Labour Party must also look at this with a clear intent to do what’s ethically and legally the right thing.”
MPs on the payroll vote, such as ministers and whips, cannot sign such letters and motions. However, the growing number of MPs attaching their name to the appeal highlights rising demand for such a move, particularly within the Labour government.
A trade ban “is even more important given the record pace of Israeli settlement expansion in recent years, and the massive levels of settler violence against Palestinian communities assisted by the Israeli army,” CAABU said in a press release.
Doyle told Arab News: “For too long, Britain and other countries have traded with illegal settlements, which has undermined any claim that we genuinely back the legal position, or even that we back a two-state solution, which settlements clearly undermine.”
