It’s time for the UK government to impose a comprehensive ban on trade and investment with all illegal settlements, and a review and suspension of the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement
Reacting to the UK government's new package of sanctions, announced today, Joanne O'Neill, Co-Director of Advocacy and Influencing at ActionAid UK, said:
“We know that previous sanctions on individual settlers, groups or companies have failed to deter settlement expansion, prevent settler violence or end the UK's complicity in this system. The measures announced today do not go far enough. Settlement expansion goes far beyond the actions of individuals or networks: it is enabled by the Israeli’s government’s policies and practices, which constitute a systematic assault on Palestinian life and rights. Across the West Bank, Palestinians are experiencing forced displacement and record levels of state-backed settler violence, while in Gaza, the genocide continues, yet the UK’s government’s response fails to match the scale and severity of these violations.
“The E1 settlement development is an outrageous proposal that would ride roughshod over the rights of Palestinians; any UK firms seeking to benefit from it, or any other illegal settlements, are acting in clear contravention of international law. Yet by simply advising British companies against economic activity in illegal settlements, rather than prohibiting it, the government is effectively outsourcing the UK's compliance with international law to private actors. Voluntary measures are not enough: it’s time for the UK government to impose a comprehensive ban on trade and investment with all illegal settlements, and a review and suspension of the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement, without delay.”
[ENDS]