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.
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.
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I know what the outcome of the debate will be. I know it will be poorly attended. But I also know that this is embarrassing and makes it yet more difficult for the government to do absolutely nothing..
it is far too late! Those sitting in Parliament are complicit in Israel’s land theft,destruction,terrorism, mass murder, and genocide…and are continuing to supply these mass murdering maniacs with the tools to continue. I only hope that all those involved are arrested and put on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity abd genocide!
the arms will still keep being delivered to Israel until the bribes to the labour party dry up, or there is a real chance of Starmer and the rest of the zionazi supporters face a real risk of being arrested and charged with complicity in Israel’s land theft, destruction,terrorism, mass murder, genocide, and the annihilation of the Palestinian people !