Recognition alone is not enough. Britain must also take concrete steps to defend those who cling to life there and pursue justice for the dead
Andy McDonald is the Labour MP for Middlesbrough and Thornaby East
Two weeks ago, the Prime Minister posed for photographs with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, a man who asserted there are “no innocent civilians in Gaza” and signed artillery shells destined to drop and kill children.Let’s call this out for what it is. Herzog is guilty of inciting genocide.
But as I write, Britain is poised at long last to recognise the State of Palestine, overdue by more than a century. Statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and it should not be withheld any longer.
Britain’s delay is consistent with its historic and catastrophic interference in the Middle East. Yet belated recognition now underscores the injustice faced by Palestinians and the extent to which Israel has become a pariah. Israel is prosecuting a genocide in Gaza and atrocities in the West Bank deliberately to render a contiguous Palestinian state impossible. They must not be allowed to succeed.
Recognition alone is not enough. Britain must also take concrete steps to defend those who cling to life there and pursue justice for the dead. That begins with acknowledging what Israel is doing, recognising Britain’s complicity, and setting out far reaching, comprehensive and effective sanctions and to force Israel to stop and to apply more pressure for the release of all hostages.
The UN’s Independent Commission of Inquiry delivered a devastating report last Tuesday: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Yet in just a matter of days before the report was published, the then Foreign Secretary David Lammy, and then repeated by the Parliamentary Under Secretary Hamish Falconer, said that the Government “has not concluded that Israel is acting with intent,” and promised another assessment. Given all of the evidence in the public domain it beggars belief that the UK government requires yet more evidence of intent. They see what we all see.
The contrast could not be sharper. Britain clings to procedural caution while UN investigators present detailed evidence of genocidal atrocities. To say “we have not concluded” may sound prudent in Whitehall, but in the face of such evidence the position is untenable. The Genocide Convention obliges states to act when the risk is clear, not to wait for absolute legal certainty.
International law is clear: when genocide is manifest, states must prevent it “within their capacity to influence.”
The Attorney General addressed an audience at the Old Bailey on Tuesday saying “the previous government was willing to sacrifice our good standing in the world by trumpeting a willingness to break international law commitments”, which begs the question: what do we think the UK’s failure to abide by the Genocide convention does to our “good standing in the world?” I would encourage the AG to set out what our international law obligations are in terms of this genocide.
All levers must now be pulled. All arms sales should stop, trade must be paused, sanctions elevated. Yet the Government continues to justify supplying military materiel through the F-35 programme, despite mounting evidence of war crimes. Ministers claim Britain cannot suspend supplies without imperilling the global system and that consensus among partner nations is required. That line of argument fails.
I have asked Ministers at the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence, multiple times over many months, questions about the F-35 programme and much more. I have not had satisfactory answers and so I’m glad Liam Byrne MP and his Business and Trade Committee members are holding the government’s feet to the fire.
Britain has broken with allies before—over cluster munitions and landmines—strengthening its global standing. A clear British stance on F-35s could galvanise other nations, including Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands, and force Washington to confront the costs of shielding Israel.
As for settlement goods, Britain must take all steps to challenge Israel’s breaches of international law and move beyond words by banning the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Settlements are illegal under international law, and continuing trade with them legitimises a war crime and sustains Israel’s unlawful occupation. The International Court of Justice has directed third states not to aid or assist this situation, including by economic dealings, and the UN General Assembly has urged governments to halt settlement imports.
Britain already bans goods from occupied Crimea and has the legal powers to act under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act. With EU states beginning to adopt similar bans, a British move would demonstrate consistency, uphold international law, and help end decades of impunity for settlement expansion.
The Government’s promised reassessment of Israel’s conduct under humanitarian law must not be a paper exercise. Like recognising Palestine, it is a legal and moral obligation. British policy—in arms, trade, and sanctions—must now reflect the reality: Israel’s conduct in Gaza cleary meets the threshold of genocide, and Britain can no longer hide behind process and procedure.
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