Tag Archives: palestine

John Kelly

Urgent Call to Action by Lib Dem MPs on Palestine

By John Kelly | Sun 31st May 2026 - 11:30 am

Recent statements from the UK government and its representatives have made one thing abundantly clear: the Government fully understands both the dire situation on the ground in Palestine and the extent to which Israeli actions are violating international law. Sadly, what remains absent is any willingness to translate that recognition into meaningful action.  There is an opportunity for our MPs, when they return from recess next week, to make a difference.

Speaking at the UN Security Council this week, the UK’s Chargé d’Affaires to the UN, Ambassador James Kariuki, described in no uncertain terms the appalling suffering of the people in Gaza as a result of the Israeli blockade. He referred to children “living amid sewage, parasites, and disease”, “images of newborn babies with rat bites on their faces” and UN reports of “widespread infestations now affecting almost 1.5 million people.” The statement also condemned the taunting of flotilla activists in a recent video posted by Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and called for an end to escalating settlement expansion and the forced displacement of Palestinians in the unlawfully occupied West Bank.

A similarly stark tone was adopted in a joint statement issued this week by the UK and allies on Israel’s rapidly advancing E1 settlement project, which would sever East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, making the territorial continuity necessary for a future Palestinian state virtually impossible. The statement could hardly have been clearer on the illegality of the project. “The E1 settlement development would divide the West Bank in two and mark a serious breach of international law,” it warned, adding that businesses “should not bid for construction tenders for E1 or other settlement developments” and should be aware of the “legal and reputational consequences” of participating.

Unfortunately, this strong rhetoric which follows nearly two years of handwringing by Labour Ministers, does not appear to have been matched by any consequential action. Despite its repeated expressions of concern, the UK continues to permit trade with Israel’s illegal settlements, continues to provide military assistance and arms exports to Israel, and remains unwilling to take steps to force a change in Israeli policy.

The warning to businesses over E1 ultimately amounts to little more than handwringing unless now backed by actual consequences for companies that proceed regardless. What is required is a serious package of measures proportionate to the gravity of the situation. That should include sanctions, including fines, for any UK firms that bid for tenders relating to settlement construction in the E1 area or elsewhere in Palestine, as called for by Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Calum Miller in his recent letter to the Foreign Secretary. As Calum’s letter notes, the government response should also include implementing the Liberal Democrats’ longstanding policy of banning all trade in goods and services with Israel’s settlements.

It is encouraging to see the Liberal Democrats leading on this issue, not only because of the deteriorating situation on the ground, but because there is now a genuine political opening to push the Government to go further. 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 15 Comments
Judi Conner

Marching for Palestinian rights – and our own

By Judi Conner | Fri 22nd May 2026 - 2:26 pm

When 88-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos addressed last Saturday’s London peace rally for Palestine he confronted some upside-down thinking, and turned it the right way up.

“These are NOT hate marches”, he said, “Quite the opposite! These are NOT no-go areas for Jews…Quite the opposite! A majority of Jews of the world do NOT support Israeli policy…Quite the opposite!”

A good number of Lib Dems attend these Palestine marches each month. We all know the misconceptions spread by journalists and politicians. Few have attended a march, yet they’re happy to label them extremist, pro-Hamas, hate-led, and often predict arrests.

This is tosh. Stephen Kapos is right. These family-friendly, hope-filled events bring together people of goodwill from every race, belief and background, the largest single group being the Jewish contingent. Relations with the police are friendly. I personally haven’t heard racist words or hostility. We are there to protest against genocide and apartheid. To stop arms sales to Israel and find solutions for peace. There is a strong sense of a shared humanity. Is this is considered hate marching? Were the 1980s demos against South African apartheid hate marches? Is it really so radical to show compassion for a suffering people badly let down by the British for more than a century?

The Palestine protest last Saturday (16th May) was probably the most controversial under this Labour government, and it’s worth examining why. Because it was crystal clear that the smearing was coming from – or being supported by – the Prime Minister and the head of London’s Metropolitan Police. In a city proud of its protest rights and traditions this was quite a shocker.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 14 Comments
Imaduddin Ahmed

Our messaging on Palestine did not cut through

By Imaduddin Ahmed | Mon 18th May 2026 - 2:22 pm

The fallout from this year’s local elections has sparked an important conversation about where our Party goes next. I was recently one of just eight Lib Dem candidates elected to the Council in Haringey, where we worked the soles off our shoes to win twenty-one seats from a base of seven. Without any door-knocking, the Green Party won one of our safest seats and set us back in others. Our experience has been mirrored in other metropolitan areas full of disaffected Labour voters, including other boroughs of London, Manchester (see Jonathan Moore’s “What did the Greens have that we didn’t” and Shaun Ennis’ “Standing Still”), Sheffield, Bradford and Birmingham.

In contrast to the Greens, we lacked coherent national messaging. Apart from Ed boycotting the King’s banquet for Trump over Gaza, which was mentioned positively at the door, we ceded ground to the Greens on agreed upon Lib Dem policy. Erstwhile Lib Dems told me that they didn’t see the Party on the screen, nor know what we stood for any longer. Even an affluent progressive voter told me she felt unrepresented.

By contrast, the Greens have been far more successful at projecting a coherent, values-based identity. Voters saw Zack Polanski as bold, willing to challenge injustice and take clear positions, even where doing so carries political risk.

Palestine is clearly part of that picture.

Voters are looking to be inspired by parties willing to stand up consistently for international law and a values-based foreign policy. The Greens’ vocal and highly visible stance on Palestine has enabled them to fill that space, and there is growing evidence that this has translated into electoral gains in Labour-facing urban areas where we might otherwise have advanced.

In Birmingham, for example, the Greens climbed from 2 seats to 19 while the Liberal Democrats remained static at 12, despite expectations that we would emerge as the main opposition to Reform. This must surely bear some relation to the Greens’ greater clarity on Palestine in a city with four universities, a highly educated Labour vote, and many Muslims, who feel besieged by anti-Muslim Labour and Tory messaging, never mind Reform.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 12 Comments
Tom Arms

Observations of an Expat: Two-State Solution

By Tom Arms | Sat 11th April 2026 - 9:59 am

TWO-STATE SOLUTION. That is the only answer to the Palestinian conundrum; the Arab-Israeli problem and now, the Iran War.

Neither the US nor Israel can bomb the Palestinian issue out of existence. It only creates recruiting sergeants for future generations.

Hitler tried it with his Final Solution. Even though six million Jews died in horrific circumstances he failed. The Jewish state rose from the ashes of the Holocaust with a determination that they will never again face extermination and that the land of Israel is theirs by right of God’s promise to Abraham.

Problem was that the Biblical land was occupied by other people who called themselves Palestinians. They were not a state. They were more like a tribe within the Ottoman Empire and later the British Mandate. They had land. That land was taken from them by the Jewish state in wars in 1948, 1956 and 1967.

But Israel’s religious right-wingers demand the Biblical lands of Eretz Israel and the entire country fears that a Palestinian state on their borders will create a permanently hostile nation as their next-door neighbour.

Wake up Israel, a permanently hostile neighbour is exactly what you have created with decades of on-off bombing campaigns and land attacks. The only answer is a two-state solution which recognises that both sides have more to gain from peace than war.

It will not be easy. It will take years of carefully crafted negotiations, and both sides will need to keep the goal firmly in sight. It will start with confidence-building measures. They can be trivial things which create an obvious benefit to both sides. Once those are in place and creating results than it will be more difficult to return to war because it will mean giving up the gains achieved with the confidence building measures.

This has been done before. The best formerly intractable example is Northern Ireland. In the 1970s no one could envisage an end to the Troubles in the province. The IRA and Ulster paramilitaries were busy shooting each other and the British army and government was caught in the political and military crossfire.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 8 Comments
Leon Duveen

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

By Leon Duveen | Tue 24th March 2026 - 11:41 am

At his first inauguration as US President, back in 1933, Franklin Roosevelt famously said “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”.

Over 90 years later, that phrase could be applied to the Palestine/Israel conflict or, more precisely, to Palestinians and Israeli Jews. The biggest driver in preventing a solution is that Palestinians fear Israelis and Israelis fear Palestinians.

Of course, many individual Palestinians and Israelis have friends, good friends, on the “other” side but there are also many more who do not have any contact across the divide except through the ongoing violence as participants, as victims, or simply as observers.

It is this lack of knowledge about the lives, the desires, the pain of those who live close by but in a different world that has allowed cynical politicians on both sides to exploit the natural fear most of us have of those who we don’t know. Especially when there has been a long, bloody history of attacks and atrocities by both sides for over 100 years.

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged | 6 Comments
Gavin Stollar

Rape cannot depend on politics – a liberal lesson from 7th October

By Gavin Stollar | Sat 21st March 2026 - 8:51 am

Liberal Democrats believe in universal human rights. The response to evidence of sexual violence on 7th October should be straightforward. Yet too often, when the victims are Israelis, the instinct to “believe survivors” suddenly becomes contested.

If rape is used as a weapon of war, liberals should have no difficulty condemning it. That should be true whether the victims are in Bosnia, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of Congo – or Israel. And yet, in the aftermath of the 7th October attacks, a disturbing double standard has appeared in parts of Western political debate. Evidence that women were sexually assaulted during the massacre has not been met everywhere with solidarity or outrage, but with hesitation, scepticism and, in some cases, outright denial. For those of us who believe in universal human rights, that should be deeply troubling. If recognition of sexual violence depends on the politics of the conflict, the principle itself is hollow.

The attacks carried out by Hamas that day were among the worst terrorist atrocities in modern history. Around 1,200 people were murdered, and hundreds more taken hostage. Alongside the killings, evidence quickly emerged that sexual violence – including rape – had taken place during the assault. Investigators, journalists, first responders and eventually international bodies reported signs that women had been sexually assaulted during the attacks and while in captivity. And this week, the 7th October Parliamentary Commission publishes its second report into the atrocities committed that day. Its work matters because documentation and evidence are the foundation of accountability. Without them, atrocities risk being lost in political argument and misinformation.

For decades, progressives rightly pushed for a cultural shift in how societies respond to allegations of sexual violence. Survivors were too often dismissed, interrogated or disbelieved. Feminist activism taught that survivors should not be met first with scepticism, but with seriousness and compassion. Yet when Israeli women are among the victims, the standards of belief suddenly appear to change. Some who would normally insist on listening now demand levels of proof rarely available after mass atrocities. Where are the police reports, they ask. Where is the forensic evidence? Where are the witnesses willing to testify publicly? Anyone familiar with conflict-related sexual violence knows why those questions are so difficult to answer. Many victims were murdered. Crime scenes were not preserved because emergency workers were focused on saving lives and recovering bodies. Families understandably wish to protect dignity and privacy. These challenges are tragically common in wartime atrocities and precisely why international law has evolved to investigate and prosecute sexual violence in conflict through tribunals and the International Criminal Court. To treat them as evidence that crimes did not occur risks undermining that entire system.

Our Party is committed to liberal internationalism, so the response should be simple. Sexual violence in conflict is a grave violation of humanitarian law. It must be investigated wherever it occurs and whoever commits it. If we demand accountability in some conflicts but dismiss allegations in others because they complicate politics, we erode the credibility of the entire human rights system. The rule of law cannot function on selective outrage. Nor can feminist foreign policy succeed if empathy depends on the identity of the victim. Recognising sexual violence as a weapon of war and supporting survivors wherever it appears is not optional. Anything less is partisanship, not feminism.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 9 Comments
Anne-Marie Simpson

The UK must not become complicit in another illegal war — Nor distracted from Israel’s continued crimes in Gaza and the West Bank

By Anne-Marie Simpson | Sun 8th March 2026 - 12:30 pm

As Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine, we unequivocally condemn the latest unilateral and unlawful US-Israeli military action in Iran and urges the UK Government not to be complicit by allowing the US to use British military bases to attack Iran. 

The Iranian people have a right to live free from a brutal regime; however, regime change from the skies can only unleash more bloodshed and regional mayhem – particularly when one of the instigators is an indicted war criminal like Benjamin Netanyahu. The devastating human cost is already evident, including in the killing of 165 Iranian schoolgirls and staff in a strike on a girls’ primary school in Minab.

Marco Rubio has suggested that the US was forced into attacking Iran after being informed that Israel planned to launch strikes first. Under the shadow of these attacks, Israel has stepped up its illegal activities in the State of Palestine, including by closing aid crossings into Gaza and sealing off checkpoints in the unlawfully occupied West Bank. This has been accompanied by a spike in settler violence.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
Miranda Pinch

“My life’s defeat would be emigration”: Encounters in Palestine during my recent visit in January 2026

By Miranda Pinch | Thu 5th March 2026 - 10:24 am

Last month, I visited the occupied West Bank – against Foreign Office travel advise – to meet with Palestinian communities, hear their stories, and bear witness to the daily realities of life under Israel’s illegal occupation. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor and a long-standing campaigner for Palestinian rights, I did not arrive uninformed. I have travelled regularly to the West Bank over many years and am well acquainted with the apartheid regime that Israel has established there. Yet the horrors I encountered still shocked me – not because they were new, but because of their scale, pace, and the growing sense of impunity surrounding them.

During our stay there were raids in towns including Jenin, Hebron and even Bethlehem. Each day, more raids, more arrests, and more land grabs. Palestinians spoke of living in a state of constant anxiety – of sleepless nights, stress-related illnesses, and a growing lack of faith in the ability of the legal system to protect them. Settlers can come, dispossess, and destroy, and the courts are often powerless to prevent this while the IDF largely supports and protects them.

In the village of Umm al-Khair in the South Hebron Hills, we saw a once-thriving community hemmed in by settlers on either side. The settlers have divided the village in two, building a road, planting Israeli flags, and stopping the villagers from reaching their grazing grounds. The villagers face constant harassment and countless demolition orders – even a patch of astroturf laid for children to play football has been slated for removal.

At the Tent of Nations, a Palestinian Christian family farm outside Bethlehem, nearby settlement infrastructure continues to expand, including a new road that cuts across the family’s land, preventing them from cultivating the other side. Daud, the Tent’s owner, uses legal means to protect his land but the Israeli courts keep delaying judgements and in the meantime the settlers encroach more and more.

In Bethlehem, we heard from those affected by Israel’s plans to clear Palestinians from the vicinity of the religious site Rachel’s Tomb. Representatives from Wi’am, a grassroots civil society organisation, told us how the IDF has been measuring and photographing their land and buildings situated right against the ‘security’ wall and adjacent to Rachel’s Tomb. Meanwhile, Clair Anastas, a Palestinian businesswoman, has only a few weeks to appeal the loss of her home, shop, and guesthouse as settlers nearby push to expand their illegal settlement.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 6 Comments
Gavin Stollar

Peace requires truth, not rhetoric

By Gavin Stollar | Sun 22nd February 2026 - 1:30 pm

As Liberal Democrats, we pride ourselves on internationalism grounded in law, evidence and moral seriousness. That is precisely why the increasingly casual use of the word “genocide” in debates about Israel and Gaza should concern us.

The 2024 provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice did not determine that Israel has committed genocide. The Court found that there was a plausible risk requiring provisional steps to prevent escalation. That is not the same as a finding of genocidal intent – the specific legal threshold required under the Genocide Convention. No final judgment has been delivered.

To present provisional measures as proof of genocide is legally inaccurate and politically inflammatory. If we are a party that believes in international law, we must represent its rulings faithfully — not selectively.

None of this means Palestinian suffering is not real. It is devastating. Civilian casualties in Gaza have been tragic. Settlement expansion in the West Bank remains wrong and corrosive to the prospects of a viable Palestinian state. Rhetoric from Israeli ministers such as Bezalel Smotrich rejecting Palestinian statehood is damaging both morally and strategically.

But outrage cannot substitute for analysis.

The war did not begin in a vacuum. It followed the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust – an attack by Hamas that deliberately targeted civilians and sought to provoke exactly the kind of regional conflagration we are now witnessing. All hostages have now returned, many tragically murdered, but that does not erase the crime or Israel’s legitimate security concerns.

A sustainable two-state solution requires an Israel that is secure from armed groups committed to its destruction. That principle cannot be abandoned simply because it complicates the narrative.

Nor can we ignore Palestinian political failure.

The Palestinian Authority, dominated by Fatah, has for years been crippled by corruption, patronage networks and absolute democratic decay. President Mahmoud Abbas is now in the twentieth year of what was meant to be a four-year term. Elections have been repeatedly postponed. Dissent is suppressed. Critics and journalists have been harassed or detained. Security coordination is often designed less to build accountable governance and more to maintain elite control.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
John Kelly

Palestine and Israel: high time the UK stopped standing by

By John Kelly | Wed 18th February 2026 - 1:45 pm

Liberal Democrats along with the SNP, the Green Party and several Independent MPs have recognised that Israel has committed genocide as defined by the Genocide Convention. So far so good.  

The bad news is that the failure to act by the British and other governments frankly amounts to complicity in war crimes. The UK Government still hasn’t announced how it plans to follow up the 2024 ICJ judgements which warned of the plausible risk of genocide, confirmed that Israeli settlements are illegal and stated that other countries should not have any dealings with those settlements.  

The Trump ‘Peace Plan’ has done nothing to end the occupation, and the Board of Peace includes indicted war criminals Netanyahu and Putin, with not a single Palestinian. (Nor a single woman!). As Kaja Kallas, the EU Foreign Affairs chief, said at the Munich Security Conference last weekend, the Board’s Charter doesn’t even mention Gaza or Palestine and risks undermining the United Nations.

It is 78 years since Israel was created and forcibly displaced over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes, systematically murdering many on the way. 78 long years that Palestinians have lived under occupation, displacement, and collective punishment.

In the past 29 months, 72,045 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza by Israeli arms. This official toll, which the Israeli military has now endorsed, only includes confirmed direct deaths from bombings and shootings, where bodies have been found. It does not account for indirect deaths, from disease or starvation, for example, or for bodies still under the rubble. Over 500 Gazans have been killed since the so-called ceasefire – many for straying close to the Yellow Line to which Israeli troops have withdrawn but keep arbitrarily moving. 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 21 Comments
John McHugo

The plight of Palestinian Christians

By John McHugo | Thu 22nd January 2026 - 6:00 pm

On 7 January, Palestinian Christians gathered in Gaza City to mark Orthodox Christmas at Saint Porphyrius Church, one of the oldest churches in the world. It was the first Christmas service there in three years. In October 2023, Israeli airstrikes destroyed a building in the church’s compound, killing 17 of the 450 Palestinian Christians seeking refuge inside. The two years that followed brought such widespread destruction, hunger and loss that there was little desire for festivity.

A powerful op-ed by Palestinian student and writer Ali Skaik captured the contradictory mood inside the church: sorrow intertwined with hope, loss alongside renewal. There was also defiance in the simple act of turning up, of refusing erasure. As one congregant put it, “Our presence protects Palestinian history. Christianity is a pillar of Palestinian identity. By celebrating Christmas here, we assert our existence and our belonging to this land.”

The Israel-Palestine conflict is often framed as a religious struggle between Muslim and Jewish groups, but the witness of Palestinian Christians exposes the hollowness of that narrative. It is a nationalist struggle between Israelis and Palestinians. Like the rest of the population, Gaza’s Christians have faced over two years of relentless bombardment and siege, while those in the West Bank endure the daily realities of life under unlawful occupation shaped by checkpoints, settler violence, land seizures, and Israeli military control.

The birthplace of Christianity, Palestine was once home to a large Christian community. The Christian population of the whole of Palestine was around 12.5% before the 1948 Nakba. That on the West Bank has now declined to under 50,000, or less than 1% of the total population. Today perhaps 140,000 Palestinian Christians live in Israel as Israeli citizens (well under 2% of the population) while less than 1,000 live in Gaza.

According to a 2020 study, escaping the conditions of occupation is a primary factor behind the emigration of Palestinian Christians, alongside related economic, educational and security considerations. Corruption and a weak rule of law are also factors. Christians are twice as likely as Muslims to seek to emigrate. Most participants felt that Israeli policies were designed to push them from their homeland. A substantial proportion also feared political Islamist groups; however, the overwhelming majority felt they were integrated into Palestinian society.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 9 Comments
Jack Meredith

Why liberal internationalism must reject camp politics

By Jack Meredith | Tue 6th January 2026 - 11:05 am

Liberal internationalism is under pressure from two directions. On one side sits an authoritarian right that treats power as its own justification. On the other side sits a left that increasingly defines foreign policy by opposing the West rather than by supporting democracy, human rights, and self-determination.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 15 Comments
Gavin Stollar

Lib Dem Friends of Israel respond to Andrew George MP

By Gavin Stollar | Sun 28th December 2025 - 8:55 am

Andrew George MP frames his recent article on Lib Dem Voice (“Israel/Palestine: Complicity”) around laudable principles—respect for law, opposition to hatred, and concern for civilian life. However, those principles are undermined when language departs from legal definitions, evidence is selectively presented, and allegations of the gravest crimes in international law are asserted as settled fact when they are not.

This matters not only for accuracy, but because such rhetoric risks feeding narratives that blur into antisemitism under the guise of moral critique.

The most serious flaw in the article is the repeated assertion that Israel is committing “genocide.” Genocide is not a descriptive adjective; it is a specific crime defined under the 1948 Genocide Convention, requiring proof of intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such. As of today, no international court has ruled that Israel is committing genocide.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), often misrepresented in public debate, has not found Israel guilty of genocide. In its provisional measures rulings, the ICJ explicitly stated that it was not making a determination on the merits of the genocide claim. Provisional measures are procedural safeguards, not verdicts.

To describe Israel as having been “recognised” as committing genocide is therefore factually incorrect and legally false. Misusing the term genocide not only cheapens a grave legal concept but also contributes to the collective demonisation of the world’s only Jewish state—a pattern that, historically, has had direct consequences for Jewish communities far beyond the Middle East.

There is no question that Gaza has experienced an acute humanitarian crisis, including severe food insecurity. However, the claim that Israel is deliberately starving Gaza as a policy of war is not established fact. Independent monitoring mechanisms such as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported famine-level risks in parts of Gaza in early 2024. Yet subsequent assessments in 2025 concluded that famine conditions were not present across Gaza, largely due to increased aid flows following ceasefires and humanitarian corridors.

Severe hunger persists, but that is not the same as proof of an intentional starvation policy. Israel has facilitated hundreds of thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid into Gaza via multiple crossings and coordination mechanisms, even while fighting an armed group that embeds itself within civilian infrastructure.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 27 Comments
Andrew George

Israel/Palestine:  Complicity 

By Andrew George | Sun 21st December 2025 - 8:48 am

Our campaigning for peace and reconciliation has always rested on respect for the rule of law, a determination to uncover the truth, and a refusal to tolerate ideologies that promote hatred, war and terrorism. The fragile ceasefire in Gaza must not distract us from prosecuting war crimes thoroughly or from accelerating progress toward a two-state solution.

I usually avoid conflating the Israel–Palestine conflict with broader issues around Islamophobia and antisemitism, but recent events compel me to speak plainly. In the wake of the appalling atrocity in Sydney, it is right to express solidarity with the victims and their families. Those who stand for peace must also stand with the Jewish community, oppose antisemitism, and confront the hate-filled ideologies that fuel terrorism.

Visiting Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories earlier this year made clear both the urgent need for peace and the fact that not everyone is working toward it. Eight weeks into the fragile Gaza ceasefire, international attention is already drawing a veil over war crimes as it focuses on peace, governance, and reconstruction. For the Netanyahu government and some western allies, talk of the future can become a rhetorical device to deflect scrutiny of past and ongoing atrocities and to avoid calls for justice.

In Parliament, ministers have used the ceasefire to present the UK as a key peacebuilder. Yet, as highlighted in Peter Oborne’s recent book, serious concerns remain about the extent of UK involvement in Israel’s policy of retribution, genocide and starvation of its people and consequent destruction of Gaza, including (but not only) through the supply of arms, intelligence, and other forms of military aid. 

In September 2024 the government partially suspended arms sales to Israel, revoking roughly 30 of 350 relevant licences. That limited action left significant loopholes, notably an exemption for exports to the global F-35 programme, despite evidence the jets have bombed civilians in Gaza.

Beyond the F-35 carve-out, UK military goods continued to flow to Israel in worrying quantities. Analysis by Channel 4 FactCheck shows that in June 2025 UK munitions worth about £400,000 entered Israel— the highest monthly figure since records began three years ago. Ministers note the data does not distinguish live munitions from training equipment, but why would we supply any military material to an army accused of genocide? Regardless, the UK and Israeli governments refuse to disclose the nature of the shipments, making proper scrutiny impossible. 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 13 Comments
Leon Duveen

From the River to the Sea . . .

By Leon Duveen | Thu 18th December 2025 - 10:14 am

This phrase, or variants of it, has a long history and invokes different meaning to different people. We all need to realise what we may mean by it is not what those who hear it understand by it.

The roots of this phrase or slogan seem to be in the time of the British Mandate rule in Palestine, and it comes from the Revisionist (i.e. right wing) Zionism movement led by Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the movement that also produced the Jewish Terrorist groups, Irgun and Lehi, and the ideology of what is now Likud led by Binyamin Netanyahu.  It was the dream of this branch of Zionism to have a Jewish State that reached from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, even beyond.

Later (the exact chronology is disputed) by the 1970’s, the phrase was adopted by the Palestinian Nationalist movement to call for a Palestinian State excluding Isreal and, by implication, most (if not all) Jews from that land.

In modern times the phrase is linked to the pro-Palestinian movement in the West with the second line of “Palestine will be free.”  While many who chant the slogan may not mean that this implies the eradication of Israel, many in Jews, both in Israel and those in the Diaspora, hear that implication in those words and fear that it will be accompanied by a mass eradication of Jews between the Mediterranean to the Jordan, just as when the original slogan was first coined, the Arabs who lived in Palestine feared a Jewish state would mean their expulsion or eradication.

Given this mixed history, it is no wonder that the phrase stirs different emotions in people depending on which side of the Palestine/Israel conflict they are. However, if we want to help both Palestinians & Israelis address the issues that divide them, help the find a way to allow both to live in peace, share that land they both love and call their homeland and allow the children of both grow up free from the threat of more wars & violence, we need to think before we repeat  this phrase either by itself or with a second line.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 15 Comments
Judi Conner

Giving Palestinians support, strength and hope

By Judi Conner | Wed 26th November 2025 - 10:25 am

On Sunday a friend and former colleague in Gaza called Mamdouh wrote to me, “By the grace of God, we’ve just prepared a delicious meal of falafel using all the traditional fresh ingredients – chickpeas, garlic, parsley and green pepper. It was a truly delightful experience, especially since it’s been a year a half since we last enjoyed falafel made from authentic ingredients rather than canned ones.” His photos and a video show Mamdouh using a hand-mincer to prepare the falafel mix.

Mamdouh was a librarian in one of Gaza’s universities. In the past two years he’s lost his livelihood, his family home, and, most tragically, one of his five children, killed in an Israeli strike only hours before the “ceasefire” was announced. So it’s all the more moving to hear him counting his blessings.

He also takes a great interest in the activities of Lib Dem Friends of Palestine, commenting in detail on photos I’ve sent of, for instance, Conference marking the Recognition of Palestine, or Lib Dems taking part in the regular London peace marches. He’s aware of the Lib Dems’ commitment to justice, the rule of law, human rights and self-determination and nationhood for the Palestinian people. I privately think of him as an honorary Lib Dem himself!

In response to his photos this week, I told Mamdouh that Lib Dems would be out on the streets again this Saturday on International Palestine Solidarity Day. He quickly replied, “I’m moved to hear about the upcoming march in London for the Palestine Solidarity Day – your support gives us strength and hope. May our shared voices bring about meaningful change and a brighter future for all. With heartfelt gratitude, Mamdouh.”

He went on to send me some background on this special day which I didn’t know. It can be tempting to thing these ‘named days’ are just randomly created at the whim of  a marketing director somewhere. But Mamdouh sent this:

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is observed annually on November 29th.

This day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1977 and is commemorated each year to express global support for the rights of the Palestinian people and to mark the anniversary of UN Resolution 181, which was adopted on the same date in 1947 and called for the partition of Palestine.

Purpose of the day: To affirm the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination, national independence and the return of refugees.

Activities: Exhibitions, seminars, solidarity gatherings, and the raising of the Palestinian flag at UN offices worldwide.

Symbolism:  This day serves as an opportunity for nations, organisations and individuals to express their support for the Palestinian cause.

In fact that Resolution 181 was no cause for celebration at the time, since Palestinians were, understandably, opposed to the partition of Palestine, and their leaders and their Arab neighbours voted against it. But I’m not going to quibble about this with Mamdouh now, because almost 80 years on from 1947 events have of course panned out very badly for the Palestinians, and at this point it seems appropriate for liberals to take any opportunity we’re given to stand up for the rights of this long-suffering people.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 5 Comments

Turning Recognition into Action: The Case for a UK Ban on Settlement Trade

By Maggs Mackechnie | Tue 11th November 2025 - 2:05 pm

One month after the Gaza ceasefire, and the prospect of a just and lasting resolution feels as distant as ever. In Gaza, Israel continues to dictate the terms of an increasingly fragile peace – obstructing humanitarian access, committing near-daily ceasefire violations, and showing little sign of any genuine commitment to withdrawal or reconstruction.  

But it is in the West Bank that Israel’s true intentions are most clearly revealed. While global attention has remained fixed on Gaza, Netanyahu’s government has quietly pressed ahead with the steady consolidation of its grip on the occupied territory. 

This year has already seen record levels of settler violence, carried out with the active support of the Israeli government and army. The weeks following the ceasefire have been no exception. In the past month alone, Israeli forces and settlers have carried out more than 2,300 attacks across the occupied West Bank, terrorising inhabitants and forcibly displacing Palestinians from their homes through demolitions, arbitrary arrests, physical assaults and the uprooting of over 1,000 olive trees.

Mere weeks after the ceasefire was announced, the Knesset advanced a bill to annex the West Bank, a move that would constitute a clear breach of international law. And just this week, the government issued tenders for 356 new settlement housing units in the territory. This follows its revival of the controversial E1 settlement plan, a project that would cut the West Bank in two –  a clear attempt to bury any remaining hopes for a two-state solution. 

These are not the actions of a government interested in peace, but of one intent on erasing, piece by piece, the separate identity of the Palestinian people and their culture and the very state that the UK and other western nations have finally recognised. 

It is futile to hope that Israel will change course on its own. Even Yair Lapid, the leader of Israel’s so-called ‘liberal’ opposition party, voted in favour of the recent annexation bill (though this is hardly surprising, given his party’s own record of deepening the settlement project while in power). 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 11 Comments
The Voice

Ed Davey’s statement on second anniversary of October 7 attacks

By The Voice | Tue 7th October 2025 - 7:46 pm

Ed Davey issued a statement today to mark the second anniversary of the 7th October attacks in Israel:

Two years ago, we watched in horror those appalling scenes of Hamas’s evil terrorist attack on Israel. 1,200 innocent people brutally slain, including hundreds of young people at a music festival. Others raped, sexually assaulted and mutilated. 251 people taken hostage, ripped away from their families.

Those terror attacks also triggered a shocking rise in antisemitism here in the UK – a terrible scourge that took the lives of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz at their synagogue last week.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 1 Comment
The Voice

Lib Dem Friends of Palestine statement on Trump plan for Gaza

By The Voice | Sat 4th October 2025 - 1:27 pm

Lib Dem Friends of Palestine have put out a statement on the Trump “peace plan” for Gaza.

They say that the “flawed Trump ‘peace plan’ offers only a temporary pause in the genocide and denies Palestinians sovereignty and self-determination.”

President Trump’s ‘20-point plan’ for Gaza presents itself as a pathway towards peace but in reality promises only a temporary reprieve from the violence while denying Palestinians sovereignty, political unity and the right to self-determination, which are essential for achieving permanent peace.

Negotiated between the United States and Israel without input from Palestinian representatives, it offers a ceasefire without guarantees and fails to establish any roadmap towards a genuine two-state solution.

Limited short-term relief – no long-term guarantees

There are short-term elements that are to be welcomed. An immediate end to the killing, the release of hostages and detainees on both sides, and greater humanitarian access are urgent priorities that must be achieved without delay. (And should all proceed even in the absence of a longer-term proposal.)

Yet while Trump’s proposed plan would see Hamas disarmed and evicted from Gaza, it contains no enforcement mechanisms and no safeguards to prevent Israel from resuming the genocide once the hostages have been released. Despite promising a “complete staged withdrawal” of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, it fails to set out a timeline or milestones for achieving this. Netanyahu has already made clear his intention that Israeli troops will remain in “most” of Gaza – there are no proposals for tackling this intransigence. Given his long record of obstructing and derailing peace processes, including his recent attack targeting Hamas negotiators in Qatar and consistent denial of Palestian nationhood throughout his career, there is little reason to believe this plan will deliver more than a brief pause before Israeli’s bombardment and expansion resume.

Failure to recognise Palestinian agency

Equally troubling is the absence of any provisions for ensuring Palestinian input and self governance. Oversight and supervision of Gaza would lie with a supposed international ‘Board of Peace’, chaired by Trump and including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. This would oversee a non-political Palestinian technocratic body tasked with the day to day running of the Gaza Strip. Palestinians would be relegated to mid-level administrative roles, and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would be excluded from any meaningful involvement at least until it has completed an undefined and externally-imposed ‘reform’ programme.

Palestinians recognise that the PA needs reform and support, not least capacity building to be able to administer and rebuild the whole of its sovereign territory. It needs to hold elections (and Israel needs to be compelled to allow Palestinians to hold and participate in those elections). But the PA is the Palestinian government, one that the UK government has recognised. Its exclusion entrenches divisions between Gaza and the West Bank, a key aim of the Israeli government, and denies Palestinians the right to determine their own political future. Western governments cannot recognise a Palestinian state only to deny its current government any role in the rebuilding process.

Liberal Democrats must challenge the PA’s exclusion and make clear that their participation cannot be made contingent on conditions dictated by outsiders. Particularly concerning is the proposed requirement that it abandons cases against Israel in the international courts, a move that would constitute an illegitimate interference and a denial of Palestine’s sovereignty and the basic right to pursue justice through the rule of law. It would also undermine the future use of the international courts system to prevent and punish major breaches of international humanitarian law.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 4 Comments
Paul Walter

Building bridges for Middle East peace

By Paul Walter | Sun 21st September 2025 - 3:00 pm

-That was the title of a Bournemouth fringe meeting today. It was hosted by Liberal Democrats for Peace in Middle East. Their President, Leon Duveen, was on the panel with their Chair, Mohammed Amin.

The panel (above) featured Sharon Booth, who is the Chief Executive and founder of Solutions Not Sides. SNS “is an education programme that exists to provide humanising encounters, diverse narratives and critical-thinking tools in order to empower young people with the knowledge, empathy and skills to promote dialogue and conflict resolution, and to challenge prejudice in the UK.”

Also on the panel were two peace activists who SNS use as mentors in their programme.
They included Hamze Awawde has been leading programmes that bring Israelis and Palestinians together for the last 12 years. He leads YaLa Young Leaders, which brings young people together to break down divisions and barriers.

Continue reading »
Posted in Conference | Also tagged , and | 2 Comments
Judi Conner

Calling out the Gaza genocide

By Judi Conner | Thu 18th September 2025 - 10:13 am

Genocide. Genocide. Genocide.

For two years this word has been taboo as we’ve watched Israel carrying out its atrocities in Gaza. Most of us have avoided using it for fear of….what?  Yes, we’ve rightly considered ‘genocide’ a powerful, extreme word, largely associated with the horrors of the Holocaust and Rwanda: a word that mustn’t be used lightly, without proper investigation of the true facts. But let’s be honest. We’ve also been terrified to call out the blatant killing of civilians and ethnic cleansing in Gaza for what it is, because in all likelihood we’d be accused of antisemitism or supporting Hamas terrorism. 

But on Tuesday this week things changed. The United Nations’ Human Rights Council published a report by an Independent International Commission of Inquiry into Israel’s actions in Gaza. It concluded that “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Commission of Inquiry urges Israel and all States to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it.” 

Suddenly ‘genocide’ in Gaza is no longer the subject of conjecture and hypothesis. it brings us back to facts, using international law and carefully-researched evidence as the yardstick.

More specifically, the Commission, which has been investigating the events on and since 7 October 2023 for the last two years, concludes that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births.”

“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission, who headed the tribunal into the Rwanda Genocide. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.” At the report’s announcement Judge Pillay also called the findings “a moral outrage and a legal emergency”.

Defending the Report against an intense backlash from Israel, Pillay and her colleagues have been quick to point out that, far from being pro-Hamas, the Commission took a strong stance against Hamas on 10th October 2023, denouncing Hamas atrocities against Israel as war crimes. They also stress that “explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group.” In other words, key evidence of Israel’s intentions of genocide has come from the blatant words and actions of Israel’s leadership itself.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 8 Comments
Jack Meredith

Israel and Palestine: a lasting peace

By Jack Meredith | Fri 5th September 2025 - 2:11 pm

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has been nothing short of horrifying.

Each day, we are confronted with images of devastation, loss of life, and destruction. Innocent Palestinians are perishing, while innocent Israelis are being held as hostages. Anti-war activists in Israel, comprising both Israeli and Palestinian individuals, advocate for a cessation of hostilities. Courageous anti-Hamas residents of Gaza vocally oppose the totalitarian regime that has deprived their region of democratic principles. Liberals and socialists within Israel are urging Prime Minister Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet to resign and to terminate their ongoing assaults on Palestine.

There have been too many stories of survivors of October 7th, how they were starved, beaten and raped by Hamas terrorists. I have seen too many photos of abandoned Hamas hideouts, where evidence of hoarding UN aid from their fellow Palestinians has become apparent. I have read too many accounts of anti-Gazan Hamas protestors, who are so brave to speak up against a regime that would sooner kill them than engage in dialogue, being kidnapped and “disappearing”. I have seen too many videos of starving Palestinian children begging for food and basic needs, only to be met with violence and death.

Prime Minister Netanyahu leads a regime that is determined to pursue the complete eradication of Palestine. His cabinet, characterised by a predominance of hard-right and far-right politicians, adheres to a variant of Zionism that is deeply anchored in extreme conservatism. His political adversaries, namely the Israeli Labour Party and Yesh Atid, have urged Netanyahu to resign and put an end to what they deem a barbaric conflict. Anti-war activists, who have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv advocating for peace and a two-state solution, have called for the removal of the Netanyahu administration.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 10 Comments
The Voice

Alex Cole-Hamilton: Recognition of Palestinian state essential step on road to peace

By The Voice | Wed 3rd September 2025 - 9:43 pm

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton took part in the Scottish Parliament debate on Palestine. Here is his speech in which he spoke of our calls for recogniton of the State of Palestine, targeted sanctions against the most egregious members of the Israeli cabinet and an arms embargo. Here’s his speech in full:

I am grateful to the Scottish Government for making time for this very important debate. The debate takes place against the backdrop of immense humanitarian suffering and our historical culpability, which I raised with the First Minister in response to the statement earlier.

In Gaza, what families are enduring is nothing short of a catastrophe. Thousands of civilians have been killed, millions have been displaced and basic necessities such as food, water and medicine are desperately scarce. There is a famine raging through that land. The images of starving children should be burned into the retinas of all our eyes. At the same time, Israeli families still wait in agony for the return of their loved ones who were taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in the atrocities of 7 October. We must never lose sight of either tragedy—both demand urgent action. I echo those who say that a Palestinian life is worth as much as an Israeli life.

In that spirit, it is incumbent on all of us to remember, think, speak and act on behalf of all those Israelis in whose name Netanyahu does not act, and those Palestinians whom Hamas does not represent. The motion speaks to the recognition of a Palestinian state. For the Liberal Democrats, recognition is not an abstract gesture; it is a vital, practical step towards peace and a two-state solution that ensures dignity and security for both Palestinians and Israelis.

We have heard the Prime Minister finally announce that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly later this month unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire and allows aid into Gaza, among other conditions. That marks some progress. The Liberal Democrats accept and welcome that, but the Prime Minister can go much further. The Liberal Democrats are in no doubt that the actions of the Israeli Cabinet and the IDF are in breach of international law. We have repeatedly called on the Government to go further in imposing a full arms embargo, sanctioning all members of the Cabinet—including Netanyahu—who are complicit in the illegal aid blockade and the targeting of civilians, and supporting the gathering of evidence for future accountability of these crimes against humanity.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 1 Comment
Oliver SImpson

Occupation, imprisonment and injustice: the case of Marwan Barghouti and the global silence on Palestinian detainees

By Oliver SImpson | Wed 3rd September 2025 - 1:30 pm

You are likely to find some of the details in this piece distressing

On 14 August, a video was released showing Minister for National Security Itamar Ben Gvir storming the prison cell of Marwan Barghouti. A former Fatah leader often referred to as the “Palestinian Mandela,” Barghouti is seen as a potential unity figure, historically polling above both Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas among Palestinians. He is also a known advocate for a two-state solution. The footage marked his first public appearance in years; he appears gaunt and almost unrecognisable.

Barghouti was imprisoned in the early 2000s during the Second Intifada, accused by Israel of involvement in attacks that led to the deaths of five people, accusations he has fiercely denied. His trial and imprisonment have been heavily criticised by human rights groups, with The Inter-Parliamentary Union having asserted that the “numerous breaches of international law” to which Barghouti was subjected “make it impossible to conclude that Mr. Barghouti was given a fair trial.” 

Throughout his imprisonment, Barghouti has endured harsh and degrading treatment. This has included being placed in solitary confinement for years, at times making it impossible for his family to visit him. Since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7th, his treatment has become more severe and brutal. Immediately following the attacks, he was put back into solitary confinement. In March 2024, he told his lawyers how he had been “dragged across the floor by his handcuffs, before he was beaten unconscious.” In May 2024, The Guardian described how Barghouti “spends his days huddled in a cramped, dark, solitary cell, with no way to tend to his wounds, and a shoulder injury from being dragged with his hands cuffed behind his back”. His family have expressed their fear that he will die in Israeli prisons due to his mistreatment.

However, the treatment of Marwan Barghouti is anything but an isolated case; the plight of Palestinian detainees is well documented and the brutality they are subject to systematic and widespread. 

Since Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jersualem during the course of the Six Day War in 1967, up to a million Palestinians in the these territories have been arrested and been subject to the Israeli Military Court system (although these courts no longer operate in Gaza since 2005, and East Jerusalem, which Israel has unilaterally annexed in violation to international law). Detainees under this system are subject to numerous abuses which have been widely documented and condemned by human rights groups, including, but not limited to, the mistreatment and torture of detainees, the widespread practice of administrative detention, the impediment a defendants’ access to lawyers and the introduction of “secret evidence” used against the accused. 

Under this system, roughly 20% of the Palestinian population have been arrested at some point in their lives, with this statistic rising to 40% for the male population. 

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Caron Lindsay

Joint Young Liberals and Lib Dem Friends of Palestine statement on Gaza

By Caron Lindsay | Fri 29th August 2025 - 10:25 am

The Young Liberals and Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine released this statement following a debate on Gaza at the Young Liberals’ Conference last week.

Young Liberals set new a party precedent by calling out “Genocidal” Israeli activity in Gaza, and urge the UK government to take urgent steps to promote a just and lasting resolution.

Cambridge, 22nd August 2025 – At their Summer Conference 2025, the Young Liberals overwhelmingly passed a motion calling on the UK government to take urgent and concrete steps to confront Israel’s genocide in Gaza, end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, and support a just, secure and liberal future for both states. 

The motion highlights the immense suffering caused by Israel’s military assault on Gaza and deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid to the Strip. It notes the International Court of Justice’s January 2024 ruling that there are plausible grounds to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, condemns its refusal to comply with the binding measures ordered by the Court, and affirms that it is now right to plainly describe Israel’s actions as genocidal. The motion has fired a starting gun on a new conversation within the party regarding the use of the term genocide, only weeks before the national Annual Conference takes places in Bournemouth.

The motion warns that the failure to justly resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict has eroded democracy and civil society on both sides, leaving Palestinians and Israeli civilians trapped in cycles of violence and insecurity, and affirms that only a negotiated political settlement can deliver a just and lasting peace that respects the right to dignity, freedom and security for both peoples. 

The Young Liberals urged the UK Government to uphold international law and end its complicity by:

  • suspending all military and security cooperation with Israel;
  • banning all trade with illegal settlements;
  • prosecuting British citizens credibly accused of committing war crimes in Gaza; and
  • launching a public inquiry into UK involvement in the conflict.

The motion further calls for:

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 10 Comments
Jonathan Brown

Palestine and Israel – language matters

By Jonathan Brown | Tue 5th August 2025 - 9:00 am

In recent months, BBC coverage of Gaza has itself become a major news story. The broadcaster attracted condemnation following the airing of a documentary narrated by the son of a Hamas agriculture minister, and the livestreaming of a Glastonbury performance in which rapper Bob Vylan led chants of “death to the IDF.”  Across mainstream and social media, the BBC was accused of promoting extremism. In an emergency debate in Parliament, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy called for sackings – surely an unacceptable interference in the independence of public broadcasting. The BBC issued public apologies, launched an internal review and pulled the original documentary – as well as, months later, another unrelated documentary on Israel’s systematic attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system (subsequently shown on Channel 4). This all fed the perception that the organisation’s coverage of the conflict is hopelessly biased in favour of the Palestinians.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 24 Comments
John McHugo

The objections to recognising Palestine as a state

By John McHugo | Thu 31st July 2025 - 12:41 pm

Note that this post has been amended.

Now that it is Government policy (albeit conditional) to recognise Palestine, arguments are going to be raised against it – so be prepared!

Before yesterday’s announcement by Starmer, two arguments had been mentioned rather tentatively by the distinguished, retired diplomat Lord Darroch on Radio 4’s The World At One on 25 July. I say ‘tentatively’ because he felt it necessary to point out in the interview that many of his diplomatic colleagues, both serving and retired, disagreed with him. These arguments were picked up by our very own Lib Dem peer Baroness Sarah Ludford and disseminated on social media. She succinctly summarised them as follows – without, so far as I could see, any gloss of her own:

Since then a third argument has been made, namely that recognition would be “rewarding terror”. This seems to be gaining rather more traction than the other two, since it has been endorsed by the families of some of the Israeli hostages kidnapped on 7 October.

What weight do these arguments carry? The first argument is essentially political, while the second is legal and the third is perhaps best described as a moral argument. Let’s deal with the legal argument first, because it is also relevant to the moral argument, and then finally turn to the political argument.

As long ago as 2006, the  late James Crawford, the leading authority on statehood in international law, Cambridge professor and subsequently Australian judge at the ICJ, provided a cogent reply to the legal argument:

There may come a point where international law regards as done that which ought to have been done, if the reason it has not been done is the serious default of one party and if the consequence of its not being done is serious prejudice to another. The principle that a State (e.g. Israel) cannot rely on its own wrongful conduct to avoid the consequences of its international obligations is capable of novel applications, and circumstances can be imagined where the international community would be entitled to treat a new State (e.g. Palestine) as existing on a given territory, notwithstanding the facts.
Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law, 2nd ed, 2006, pp. 447-8.

This is crystal clear. Since Israel is in unlawful occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and has frustrated the self-determination of the Palestinian People over many years, it is high time for the international community to apply Crawford’s reasoning and recognise Palestine as a state on the whole of the OPT alongside Israel. For that reason Sir Ed Davey got it absolutely right when he said that British recognition should have happened now, rather than waiting for UNGA in September as Starmer intends.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 14 Comments
Tanvir Ahmad

Rebuilding Gaza: Britain must lead with action, not just recognition

By Tanvir Ahmad | Wed 30th July 2025 - 12:13 pm

This week, Britain made a historic announcement – Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recognise the State of Palestine by September unless Israel meets strict conditions, including a ceasefire and allowing the UN to resume aid deliveries.

It’s the boldest shift in UK foreign policy for decades. But recognition alone will not clear the rubble, feed starving children, or rebuild lives. That’s why I am calling for the UK to go further – to lead the mission to rebuild Gaza.

Recognition of Palestinian statehood is long overdue. Over 140 countries have already done so. But as the UN warns that “the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” and aid convoys are looted amid chaos, recognition without a reconstruction plan risk being symbolic rather than transformational.

Why Gaza must be rebuilt

More than 60,000 Palestinians are dead, entire neighbourhoods are gone. UN experts report that over 1,000 people have been shot searching for food. The UK itself estimates 500 aid trucks a day are needed to reverse famine.

The humanitarian crisis isn’t just an emergency – it’s a moral and legal imperative. Under Article 43 of the Hague Regulations (1907), occupying powers and international actors have a duty to restore civil order and public welfare.

A Marshall Plan for Gaza

Continue reading »
Posted in Europe / International and Op-eds | Also tagged and | 11 Comments
Mark Valladares

26-27 July 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

By Mark Valladares | Sun 27th July 2025 - 10:30 pm
  • Davey: PM must show Trump that the UK will lead the way in recognising Palestine
  • Jardine challenges Government over long waits for driving tests
  • Cole-Hamilton presses Health Secretary over long waits for cataract surgery

Davey: PM must show Trump that the UK will lead the way in recognising Palestine

Commenting ahead of Keir Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump tomorrow, where the PM is expected to raise the situation in Gaza, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said:

Starmer must urge Trump to use his influence with Netanyahu to end the unconscionable suffering in Gaza through securing a ceasefire and getting much needed aid in. But it’s clear that only proper recognition the of Palestinian state by the international community will finally make way to a two-state solution and a lasting peace.

The Prime Minister should make clear to Trump that the UK will lead the way in recognising the state of Palestine.

Jardine challenges Government over long waits for driving tests

Edinburgh West MP Christine Jardine has today challenged the UK Government to cut long waits for driving tests and do more to block the reselling of block-booked driving tests as she revealed that three quarters of Scotland’s test centres have longer waits than the national average.

Media reports and constituents have raised concerns over long waits for practical driving tests and unscrupulous booking practices where individuals or companies buy up available driving test appointments and then resell them to learners, often at inflated prices.

Continue reading »
Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , and | 1 Comment
Lucia Messent

A year after the ICJ ruling, the UK is still complicit in Israel’s unlawful occupation

By Lucia Messent | Fri 18th July 2025 - 8:13 pm

112 Parliamentarians, including 19 Lib Dem MPs and Peers, have this week sent a letter to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Attorney General, calling on the Government to fulfil its promise to formally respond to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) advisory opinion on Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory. The letter states that the UK’s obligations under the ruling are immediate and “crystal clear,” warning that continued delays place the Government in breach of its legal obligations.

Issued almost exactly a year ago, the ICJ ruling found that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory (including Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem) is unlawful, and declared that all states are obliged not to recognise or assist the occupation in any way. The ruling places concrete obligations on the UK, including to abstain from entering economic relations that help entrench Israel’s unlawful presence, and to ban all forms of trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

When the ruling was issued, the Government acknowledged its central findings and promised to respond in due course. But in the year since, it has chosen to deflect and delay, relying on procedural excuses and taking no meaningful steps to implement its obligations. The letter sent this week reflects growing cross-party concern that the UK’s failure to respond constitutes a serious breach of its responsibilities under international law. The letter urges ministers to honour their commitments, set out clearly the measures that will now be taken, and demonstrate that the UK will not continue to act as an enabler of persistent violations.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 17 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Nigel Jones
    It is certainly true that community politics is insufficient for long term gain. That was my experience in 13 yrs as a councillor and still active locally; at o...
  • Katharine Pindar
    Splendid stuff, well done Yorkists! 'The New Deal' seems a great idea in itself. Your graphic shows, however, how much work will need to be done to assert ourse...
  • Chris Bowers
    Just a quick response to Kira Collins' comment. An article on LDV is limited to around 750 words, so there's a lot more in the 20-page 'New Deal' paper. And tha...
  • Roland
    @kira Colin’s - “ So how do we go about attracting the votes of people inclined to vote for Reform?” An interesting question, as the answer is probably s...
  • Roland
    Given the fixed term Parliament Act was repealed by Johnson, I would be aiming at 2028. There is little benefit to the sitting government to go for the full fiv...