Parliament is to debate a public call to end arms sales to Israel after a petition on its website crossed the threshold of 100,000 signatures.
The petition to “immediately revoke all licences for arms exports to Israel” actually passed that threshold before the general election in July; it was closed early because of the election – meaning it may have attracted a significantly larger number of signatures than the 107,316 it currently displays.
It will be debated in the House of Commons on December 16.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The petition states: “The UK is complicit in arming Israel, and many regard Israel to be committing war crimes.
“Palestinian children have been made orphans, people have been crushed by buildings in airstrikes, and there have been many other tragedies. Arms that have been partly manufactured in the UK appear to be being used in the current military action in Gaza.
“We believe the UK Government is on the wrong side of history, and must stop the sale of arms to Israel.”
The former Tory government responded on March 5, according to the petition site.
The response states: “HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. This is an important lever for promoting both UK prosperity and national and global security.
“We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the SELC).
“The SELC provide a thorough risk assessment framework for export licence applications and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We will not license the export of equipment where to do so would be inconsistent with the SELC. These are not decisions we take lightly.
“We consider a range of factors, including examining the political and security conditions in the destination country, the nature of the equipment to be exported, the organisation or unit which will ultimately be the user of the equipment, and all available information about how similar equipment has been used in the past and how it is likely to be used in the future.
“The Government supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, but Israel must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
“The Government continues to monitor the situation closely, and we keep all export licences under continual review. If necessary, we will take action to amend, suspend or revoke licences, in line with the SELC, if circumstances require.”
It is the line where “Israel must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL)” that has prompted so many people to sign the petition; the International Court of Justice says it has more evidence showing that it has broken this law than it can comfortably accommodate.
But the government – even now it is being run by the Labour Party – is still arming Israel with weapons that are being used to kill unarmed Palestinian children, women and men, according to evidence provided over the 13 months since hostilities broke out between Gaza and Israel.
Petitioners will receive a transcript and video of the debate after it has taken place. As This Writer has signed, I will post it here, along with a report of the result.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Parliament is to debate a public call to end arms sales to Israel
Parliament is to debate a public call to end arms sales to Israel after a petition on its website crossed the threshold of 100,000 signatures.
The petition to “immediately revoke all licences for arms exports to Israel” actually passed that threshold before the general election in July; it was closed early because of the election – meaning it may have attracted a significantly larger number of signatures than the 107,316 it currently displays.
It will be debated in the House of Commons on December 16.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The petition states: “The UK is complicit in arming Israel, and many regard Israel to be committing war crimes.
“Palestinian children have been made orphans, people have been crushed by buildings in airstrikes, and there have been many other tragedies. Arms that have been partly manufactured in the UK appear to be being used in the current military action in Gaza.
“We believe the UK Government is on the wrong side of history, and must stop the sale of arms to Israel.”
The former Tory government responded on March 5, according to the petition site.
The response states: “HM Government takes its export control responsibilities very seriously and we operate one of the most robust and transparent export control regimes in the world. This is an important lever for promoting both UK prosperity and national and global security.
“We rigorously assess every application on a case-by-case basis against strict assessment criteria, the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria (the SELC).
“The SELC provide a thorough risk assessment framework for export licence applications and require us to think hard about the impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We will not license the export of equipment where to do so would be inconsistent with the SELC. These are not decisions we take lightly.
“We consider a range of factors, including examining the political and security conditions in the destination country, the nature of the equipment to be exported, the organisation or unit which will ultimately be the user of the equipment, and all available information about how similar equipment has been used in the past and how it is likely to be used in the future.
“The Government supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas, but Israel must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
“The Government continues to monitor the situation closely, and we keep all export licences under continual review. If necessary, we will take action to amend, suspend or revoke licences, in line with the SELC, if circumstances require.”
It is the line where “Israel must comply with International Humanitarian Law (IHL)” that has prompted so many people to sign the petition; the International Court of Justice says it has more evidence showing that it has broken this law than it can comfortably accommodate.
But the government – even now it is being run by the Labour Party – is still arming Israel with weapons that are being used to kill unarmed Palestinian children, women and men, according to evidence provided over the 13 months since hostilities broke out between Gaza and Israel.
Petitioners will receive a transcript and video of the debate after it has taken place. As This Writer has signed, I will post it here, along with a report of the result.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
you might also like
MPs could be forced to debate a no-confidence vote in David Cameron
The Government has been removing names from the petition calling for a no confidence vote in David Cameron
‘No confidence in Cameron’ petition is rejected by Parliament