https://arab.news/4e7wg
- All major political parties represented in letter addressed to foreign, home secretaries
- ‘Massive increase in settler violence and intimidation’ against Palestinians amid ‘climate of impunity’
LONDON: A group of 56 UK parliamentarians representing all major political parties has demanded the banning of violent Israeli settlers from entering Britain, in a letter to the government.
The letter, addressed to Foreign Secretary David Cameron and Home Secretary James Cleverly, also called for banning those who incite settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
A British ban would follow the US travel ban on Israeli settlers suspected of violence against Palestinians, imposed on Dec. 5.
“Ban violent Israeli settlers and those who incite them from entry into the UK,” the letter reads. “Following recent constructive exchanges in the House of Commons, we write to ask that Israeli settlers who commit or incite crimes of violence and intimidation against Palestinians in the West Bank should be barred from entry into the United Kingdom,” it added.
“There is good British precedent for such action. We believe that the case for British government action is very strong.”
The letter describes Israel, as the occupying power in the West Bank and Gaza, as having “sole responsibility” for controlling settlers.
But the Israeli military and police forces use their powers to protect settler communities at the expense of the Palestinian people, and in some cases assist in attacks against them, the letter warns.
Settlers “enjoy a climate of impunity,” with Israeli authorities instead targeting Palestinians in the West Bank, it added.
More than 3,000 Palestinians have been arrested since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, “often in the most arbitrary manner and without charge.”
The letter raises the case of Anas Abu Srour, a refugee youth center official who was arrested on Nov. 28 without charge and sentenced to six months’ administrative detention.
The 56 parliamentarians called for the British Embassy in Tel Aviv to raise his case and others “as a matter of urgency.”
The West Bank Protection Consortium, a program supported by 10 EU countries and the UK, also requires an immediate funding increase to “address the massive increase in settler violence and intimidation,” the letter says.
Though the parliamentarians praise Cameron and Cleverly for expressing concern to the Israeli government over its conduct in the West Bank, they warn that “expressing concern is not enough.”
The letter concludes: “Israel needs to heed your words or face serious consequences for its consistent failure to adhere to the international laws and conventions which it has signed and ratified.”