Category: Israel

Change in position over Israel


Labour government withdraws its objection to an International Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu

July 2024

UPDATE: 6 August. There seem to be suggestions that the government has suspended licenses for arms to Israel. The position is not totally clear but firms are getting messages about a ‘suspension’.

The newly elected Labour government has withdrawn the objection to the International Court of Justice issuing arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant it has just been announced. Following the Hamas atrocity on October 7th last year, Israel has waged a series of attacks on Gaza destroying huge parts of the enclave, destroying all but two of the hospitals and leaving over 38,000 dead. Other estimates suggest the death toll is around 186,000 dead if bodies in buildings are included. This suggests the new government will take a tougher line over Israel’s actions than the previous administration. Israel maintains it is going after Hamas targets but the death toll includes large numbers of children suggesting attacks are not sufficiently targeted. The Conservative government argued that the ICJ did not have jurisdiction over Israel.

There are also suggestions – unconfirmed at present – that the new government may be taking a hard look at weapons sales and perhaps limiting the amount or range that can be sold.

A decision by the ICJ to issue a warrant has not been taken yet.

Mr Netanyahu was in Washington this week and received a standing ovation from Congress. In his speech Mr Netanyahu referred several times to the ICJ and suggested some of the claims made by them and others were false. These included the suggestion that Israel was deliberately starving the people of Gaza claiming that it is ‘utter complete nonsense’ and an ‘complete fabrication.’ Unfortunately, according to agencies on the ground it is not. Only a fraction of the aid is allowed to enter and Israel imposes a constant stream of restrictions preventing significant quantities of aid to enter the territory. Since May, only just over 2,000 trucks have been allowed in. His other claims about sufficient warnings given before civilian areas bombed for example have also been refuted by those on the ground.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu continues to enjoy political support in Washington and his reception in the Congress was rapturous. Outside Congress however, there were loud protests.

It is clear that the activities of the IDF in Gaza and the resulting death toll, is causing serious problems in Western capitals. The indiscriminate bombings are in breach of international law. The shock and sympathy which greeted the appalling attack on October 7th is rapidly disappearing as continuous images of bombed hospitals and civilians fleeing the latest bombing attack are aired.

There will be a demonstration in Bournemouth this Sunday 28th July starting at 12:30 in Bournemouth Gardens.

There will be a peace Vigil again today (Saturday) in Salisbury Market place at 5pm for half an hour.

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Vigils continue


31st Vigil on 6 July. Labour’s relations with Israel now significant following the general election

July 2024

UPDATE 2: The new government has announced (8 July) that it is to drop its bid to delay the ICC’s intention to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

UPDATE: It is rare for us to update a post only hours after its publication but we have mentioned the prime minister’s uncertain history in relation to Israel and today, 7 July, he has made a statement committing his party, and now the government, in support of a two state solution. This is to be welcomed.

The vigils continue in Salisbury market place although attendance down to around 25. The conflict continues and although there are reports of peace talks, there is little confidence they will lead to a successful result. Around 38,000 Palestinians have now died including thousands of children.

The conflict spilled into the General Election which was held in the UK last week on 4 July and led to a landslide victory for the Labour party. However some seats were lost and others came close to being lost because of Sir Keir Starmer’s remark early in the election where he said that “Israel has the right to withhold power and water from the Palestinian people” then going on to say that “obviously, everything should be done within International law”. The problem is that collective action against civilians is against international law so the two comments contradict each other. Another, less noticed interview was with the Jewish Chronicle where Starmer was asked about apartheid in Israel and, despite the overwhelming evidence produced by a number of human rights organisations from both within Israel and outside the country that Israel was indeed running an apartheid system, said that Israel was not an apartheid state.

Arms to Israel

It is going to be interesting to see how the new administration handles the arms question and whether it allows further exports going to Israel. The problem for the party is that they struggled for some time to shake off the ‘anti-Semitic’ accusation following Jeremy Corbin’s time as leader. Arguably, this has led them to become fearful of making any criticism of Israeli actions and to become unquestioning supporters.

The Salisbury Amnesty group is 50 this year

Another problem for Israel – and by extension the western countries still continuing to support it – are credible reports of the widespread use of torture by the Israelis. These reports are from the UN; the International Center for Transition Justice; Middle East Monitor; Voice of America; al Jazeera and many others. In the current edition of Private Eye (No: 1627) in its ‘Gaza Watch’ column, is a report of the death in custody of Dr Iyad al-Rantisi in November last year. He was held in a Shin Bet interrogation facility. He was moving south with his family as directed by the IDF and was detained at a checkpoint. Six days later he was dead. A gag order forbade all publication of details of the case and the family have not been provided with an explanation.

He was not alone and a large number of other health care workers have also died. According to Health Care Workers Watch Palestine, 541 such workers have died at the hands of IDF to date, the highest number in any conflict in UN history. Other agencies report comparable numbers. Private Eye also quotes the EU’s European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Operations directorate which reports that 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed.

The next vigil will take place on Saturday 13th at 5pm and people concerned about the conflict are welcome to come along.

Protests

It’s perhaps also interesting to note that our protest is entirely silent and there are no loud-hailers. We undertake no violent actions and we do not chain ourselves to railings or other similar activities. We do not therefore infringe the previous government’s laws designed to limit protest. As a result we are ignored and we will not be reported on by local media. A matter on which to reflect for those who say they do not mind protests as long as they’re peaceful.

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Palestine Action centre of the news


115th vigil took place following a momentous week in the courts February 2026 We discussed in a previous post the High Court’s decision that the government’s decision to ban Palestine Action was disproportionate. The ban on them has not been lifted as the government seemed determined to appeal and some experts say the Appeal Court…

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Minutes and Newsletter


February 2026 We attach the group’s minutes of its February meeting thanks to group member Lesley for the work in compiling them and for other members Fiona and Andrew for their contributions. We do not produce a newsletter so these minutes, although longer than normally the case with minutes, contain items of wider interest. Human…

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Palestine Action ban lifted: for now


High Court finds the ban on Palestine Action ‘disproportionate’ February 2026 The High Court has ruled that the ban on Palestine Action is disproportionate and banning it unlawful. The ban remains in place however as the government is minded to appeal the decision which will take place later this month. The decision is a major…

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Vigil #30


Thirtieth vigil took place still with strong attendance

July 2024

It seems remarkable that after eight months, the peace vigil in Salisbury market place is still going strong. Another perspective is why should it be necessary but with little sign of an end to the destruction there is a strong desire for it to continue. About 30 attended on Saturday 29th June and we are pleased to attach a short YouTube video produced by Peter Gloyn.

Video

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Vigil – 6 months


June 2024

Group members attended the Vigil in Salisbury Market Place yesterday and the numbers were back up to well over 30 who came. There were new faces as well as the stalwarts. It’s six months since we have been going to these and the violence in Gaza and the West Bank shows no sign of abating. Peace talks don’t look as though they are going anywhere. The US and President Biden are looking increasingly powerless as time goes by.

The Salisbury group was established 50 years ago this year
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Arms to Israel


UK continues to issue arms licences to Israel

June 2024

The conflict in Gaza continues and 36,700 Palestinians have died and well over 80,000 have been injured many seriously. In the last four months alone, 12,300 children have been killed. The death toll inflicted on Gaza is out of all proportion to the atrocity committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has found that there is a plausible case for Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. The response by the deputy foreign secretary Andrew Mitchell is to say that ‘the ICJ does not have jurisdiction [over Israel]’ (source, Government briefing, ‘UK Arms Exports to Israel,’ May 2024). Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, is quoted as saying that Israel ‘is committed to complying with International Humanitarian Law’ and hence did not recommend that licences be suspended. Today, 12 June 2024, the UN has issued two reports accusing both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity including the use of torture.

Meanwhile, over 100 licences for arms have been issued to Israel since October 7, 2023. Quite what is licensed is difficult to discern. Eight are ‘open’ licences and the statistics do not give the value of the exports. In 2022, the value of arms exports to Israel amounted to £42m. The UK is not a major supplier and the US sends around ten times as much including fighters and artillery.

The ICJ action raises serious questions for the government which may well be different after July 4th. Essentially, governments continuing to arm Israel risk being complicit in genocide which is a specific crime under the convention.

Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and a Palestinian human rights organisation al-Haq, have joined a legal action by Global Legal Action Network for a judicial review. The position of the Labour Party (who may be in government soon) is unclear but the party has had a difficult relationship with Israel and has had to weather many accusations of antisemitism which it is keen to dispel.

There are signs of movement and in March, over 100 MPs and a number of Peers signed an open letter to the government calling for and end of arm sales to Israel. Lord Cameron has been critical of them commenting on the blocking of aid and turning away entire lorries on spurious grounds such as shipments containing ‘dual use’ items (medical scissors).

The question is largely a moral one. Should we continue to supply arms to a state which is causing such damage, bombing entire blocks of apartments, almost destroyed all hospitals and killed so many men, women and children? By not allowing journalists entry, objective assessments of Israeli claims of targeting Hamas fighters is hard to verify and we simply have to rely on IDF statements.

However, the conflict shows no signs of coming to a satisfactory conclusion. A hard-line Israeli government – which has become even more so after the recent resignation of Benny Grantz – is determined to see the complete extinction of Hamas, an objective almost impossible to achieve. The violence in Gaza will be breeding the next generation Hamas fighters. Violence on the West Bank has grown markedly worse. A two-state solution looks impossible to achieve. The continued supply of weapons principally by the US but also by the UK, is simple adding fuel to the fire. More important perhaps than the actual supply of military materiel, is the implicit support that the the licences give to the Israeli government, a government which is disinclined to end the violence.

Sources: CAAT, Guardian, Amnesty,

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21st Vigil video


The 21st Vigil took place on Saturday 27th April

May 2024

The conflict continues although it has largely dropped down the running order in recent weeks. The war in Gaza is causing great fury on US university campuses with close to riotous events taking place. It does not seem either productive or appropriate to perpetuate the violent behaviour in Gaza on the streets of American universities.

We attach a short video film of the last Salisbury vigil – the 21st – in which just over 30 took part, expertly put together by Peter Gloyns. The focus is on ending the violence and features images of weapons used by the Israelis which they purchase from western – mainly US but also UK companies – which cause so much damage in the territory.

As we write, President Netanyahu has said they are planning on a military attack on Rafah, currently packed with people who have fled other parts of Gaza because of the bombing. The current death toll stands at 34,000.

The Salisbury group was established 50 years ago this year

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“Amnesty a worthless sham”


Fierce criticism of Amnesty International by the editor at large of the Jewish Chronicle

April 2024

“Amnesty is an indecent, morally bankrupt sham that has nothing of value to contribute”. These are just two comments in a Times column under the ‘Thunderer’ heading in its edition of April 11th. After first saying that the organisation was once a remarkable one which campaigned on behalf of prisoners of conscience, today it has become “just another partisan NGO, with all the dreary hard-left obsessions – including the customary fixation on Israel”. There then follows a damning description of current prisoners of conscience saying that far from being law abiding citizens and writers, they were in fact dreadful terrorists who committed fearful crimes against Israeli men.

This site has referred, in several posts, to the system of Apartheid being operated in Israel against Palestinians. Many of the processes used in South Africa against the Blacks are present in the country and severely limit the movement and livelihoods of non Jewish citizens. Three detailed reports have been published: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and B’Tselem an Israel based human rights organisation. The HRW report has received a detailed rebuttal essentially denying that Apartheid exists in any form.

The invasion of Gaza following the horrific attack by Hamas on 7 October has seen around 33,000 Palestinians killed, many of whom were women and children with thousands more buried in demolished buildings. The sympathy for Israel after the Hamas attack, has begun to dissipate following the actions of the IDF. As famine begins to set in, the blocking of aid trucks by one means or another has attracted criticism from international friends of Israel. The killing of 7 aid workers recently drew widespread criticism and renewed attention to how IDF were conducting the war in the territory.

It is not true to say that Amnesty is ‘fixated’ on Israel. It has campaigns on a wide range of issues around the world. It has argued that the root causes of the conflict in Israel and Gaza need to be addressed and has called on all parties to adhere to International Humanitarian law. Israel is by far the most sophisticated country in the area with massive resources courtesy of the USA, a powerful military and is a sophisticated society.

Stephen Pollard’s Times’ article verges on being a diatribe. It is of a piece with normal Israeli practice to demonise critics as being anti-Israel. While Israel continues its Apartheid actions in the West Bank, there is unlikely to be a satisfactory long-term peaceful solution. Using ‘dumb’ bombs to destroy entire blocks because there is (it is believed) a Hamas operative within it is not consistent with International law. Writing tirades against those who draw attention to Israeli failings are unlikely to succeed either. It is in contrast to a rather prescient article of his in the New Statesman six years ago in which he notes that the violent putting down of protests will lose the country empathy.

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Fifteenth vigil


March 2024

The fifteenth vigil was held on Saturday 16th March, this time on the Library steps as it was inclement. The vigil is supported by Salisbury Concern for Israel Palestine (SCIP), CND and the Salisbury Amnesty group. It is in aid of securing peace in that region. Just over 40 attended the event which lasted half an hour. There will be another next Saturday, 23rd March starting at 5:15.

31,000 have now died in Gaza the majority of whom are women and children. Many more are yet to be discovered in the extensive rubble.

There is faint optimism with talks taking place at present and it is reported that Hamas has moderated its demands.

Picture: Salisbury Amnesty

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The Salisbury Vigil


Strong presence for the Vigil continues in the cause of peace in Gaza

February 2024

A YouTube video composite of the twelve vigils so far held has been made and can be accessed here. We are grateful to Peter Gloyns for this.

A vigil is held every Saturday in the market square in Salisbury which receives a continuing high level of support. The twelfth one was held on 24th February, starting at 5:45 pm and lasting half an hour. Just over 50 attended. The aim is to promote the cause of peace in Gaza and Israel generally. Violence continues in Gaza and there is an expectation that the death toll will reach 30,000 this week. Thousands more have been wounded. Many of the dead are women and children.

There is talk of negotiations leading to a ceasefire but whether this is so is questioned: Hamas representatives say not, Israel negotiators say maybe. Let us hope there is success.

The scale of destruction is Gaza is immense and will take colossal sums of money to put right.

The Vigils will continue through March and all are welcome.

The Salisbury group was established 50 years ago this year

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Arms Trade news


Latest CAAT News on arms trade issues

February 2024

UPDATE: 22 February 2024. UK government may suspend arms licenses to Israel if it goes ahead with the attack on Rafah.

We have mentioned the arms trade on many occasions before believing that the UK’s continued role in supplying weapons to a wide range of regimes with little concern for the consequences is shameful and immoral. As a key member of the UN, to be one of the world’s biggest seller of arms is not something to be proud of. Weapons kill, and are used to oppress minorities or to exert power over them. The biggest sufferers – as we are seeing in Gaza right now – are usually women and children.

Gaza

The lead article in the Campaign Against the Arms Trade newsletter (No 268, Spring 2024) is the situation in Gaza where an estimated 29,000 have now died at the time of writing. Israel has damaged or destroyed some 70% of Gaza’s residential buildings and has ‘systematically’ degraded healthcare facilities and food production systems. Around 85% of the population has been displaced. Meanwhile they say “senior Israeli politicians and military figures have openly talked of expelling the population of Gaza to Egypt, and have used blatantly genocidal language”. (p3)

The US is the major suppliers of weapons to Israel and the UK is a minor supplier by comparison although we do manufacture 15% of F-35 aircraft used by the Israelis.

Weapons

The UK government wants to champion arms companies it reports as “positive ambassadors for the UK, in the face of investment threats“. The focus was announced by Grant Shapps MP as part of a strategy to increase arms exports. They also appear to be encouraging Saudi Arabia to join a defence partnership to build the next generation of fighter jets. The record of Saudi in terms of human rights hardly needs rehearsing with executions, repression, use of torture and the outcry following the murder of Khashoggi. Japan, another possible partner, is said to be opposed to this. It seems the commercial priorities are supreme over any considerations of human rights. (p5)

Annual Report

CAAT has published its second annual report for 2022. It shows a big surge in export orders to £8.5bn. It shows that the single largest customer is Qatar which has a particularly poor human rights record. The report discusses some of the key countries of concern to whom we sell weapons and these include, UAE, Turkey, Saudi and Israel. The report is hard to summarise and does need to be read to gain an understanding of how the trade works and the UK’s role in it.

Telford Arms Fair

This fair used to be in Malvern and campaigners have tried to get it stopped now that it has moved to Telford. The fair is called the Specialist Defence and Security Convention UK. The title gives the impression of a benign intent with the words ‘security’ and ‘defence’. However, the weapons on display and the countries who purchase them are often used to maintain colonial power or to oppress in some way. They also kill. It has to be questioned whether such an exhibition is appropriate for the UK to be promoting and playing such an active part in. (p12). An article in the Shropshire Star newspaper had the following quote “Residents, faith groups, veterans, trade unions, environmental and peace organisations made very clear the arms fair is no more welcome in Telford than in Malvern, and we’ll be continuing to engage with the council and the Telford International Centre to ensure we don’t see a weapons fair here again.” There does not appear to be any policy statement on the details available about any moral or human rights stance by themselves or the exhibitors.

Saudi and MBS

The red carpet was almost certainly to be rolled out for Mohammed bin Salman’s planned visit to the UK. At his last visit he had lunch with the Queen and dinner with Prince William and Kate Middleton. The main purpose of course was the sale of weapons and in particular, Typhoon aircraft. A deal was in place CAAT reports but the murder of Khashoggi, CAAT’s own legal case and the war in Yemen delayed signing.

A number of human rights organisations were planning an appropriate welcome and included Amnesty, Reprieve, CAAT, and a Saudi human rights organisation Alqst. A problem for the UK is that the Eurofighter is a joint programme and some of the partners – Italy, Germany and Spain – need to approve any exports. Germany opposed the deal especially after the Khashoggi murder. There has been a lot of lobbying and the German position may have softened. It is possible the visit will happen therefore.

The overall picture is that the UK sees the sale of weapons to be a key enterprise and Grant Shapps’ statement about arms companies being ‘ambassadors’ sums up the position nicely. It would be hard to argue that the government has any kind of ethical position. Countries with atrocious human rights are courted for sales often using members of the Royal Family as ‘ambassadors’ as well.

No human rights policy

It is also interesting to note that there does not seem to be anywhere on the Ministry of Defence’s website, any reference at all to human rights concerns. The nearest policy statement appears to be the following:

‘We will engage proactively and persistently around the globe, working with our allies, to support our foreign policy goals, promote our interests and keep our competitors at bay, including in the grey zone.

‘Defence will contribute to our prosperity through creating a secure environment for business, supporting British business and jobs, and through supporting technology innovation in the economy more widely, investing in Research and Development (R&D) and new technologies to counter the threat‘.

The UK’s prosperity seems to be the one and only concern. An ethical foreign policy seems a very long time ago.

Sources: CAAT news, Shropshire Star, The Times, MoD

The Salisbury group was established 50 years ago this year

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