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.
The attacks have diverted international attention at a time when Israel has moved to cement its de facto annexation of the West Bank through major new national legislation and the advancement of its ‘Doomsday’ E1 settlement project. Meanwhile, a genocide remains ongoing in Gaza where Palestinians continue to endure a man-made humanitarian catastrophe and face near-daily Israeli attacks under what is clearly a ceasefire in name only.
Rather than allowing the US to drag us into yet another illegal war in the Middle East, the Labour Government must learn from the mistakes of the past. It must urgently refocus its efforts on protecting the international legal framework and taking consequential action to hold those who undermine it to account.
* Anne-Marie Simpson is Chair of LDFP, and an active member in Didcot and Wantage constituency.
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5 Comments
The one big tragedy is that the many US and Israeli bombs are killing civilians.
Netanyahu has already been indicted by the ICC for his actions of ‘Crimes against humanity’.
Is it now time to call for similar indictments of Donald Trump and his conspirators mainly in his Republic Party.
These are crimes against civilians in the region. Trump and his conspirators must be held to account at ICC in The Hague, as so for Netanyahu, and Putin for his crimes against Ukraine.
The International Criminal Court must collect evidence of these crimes of humanity being committed in the Gulf region with possible additional indictments being issued in due course.
Thank you.
Now Ed Davy, please repeat this on behalf of the party.
Turkey is the new Iran according to Naftali Bennett I. a speech on the 17th Feb. Even if the UK PM was to destroy his beliefs in the rule of law (it wouldn’t be a first), ignore public opinion and send other people’s children to fight an Israeli and American war, what is he going to do with the “new threat that is emerging?”
Is he going to back nato or Israel and US?
It would seem that Trump’s decision to attack Iran was to divert attention at home from his involvement in some of the more recently released Epstein files. Cynical maybe, but it is often done to divert hatred to foreigners rather than address worsening issues locally. Are a few American deaths, hundreds of civilian deaths in Iran, global insecurity and an escalation in worldwide oil prices worth the cost?