Labour MP says will launch new ‘sanctions on Israel’ bill
Richard Burgon has told the “Gaza tribunal” in London that he plans to launch the bill in parliament next week and form a new parliamentary working group that supports tougher sanctions on Israel.
He accused the UK of a “double standard” in its response to Israel’s onslaught in Gaza compared with its handling of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
“We are witnessing a genocide, livestreamed in real time, tens of thousands murdered with impunity, children starved, hospitals bombed, war crime after war crime, and some governments, including the UK, are helping to arm Israel, including with the parts for the world’s most powerful fighter jets,” he said. “That’s one form of complicity.”
Another form, he said, is “political complicity”: “I would argue that [the UK government] is also complicit through the political green lights that they give Israel.”
The government should have used “every single tool at its disposal, from sanctions … to using its role in the UN and elsewhere to force, not plead with Israel, to stop”, Burgon added.
He said the UK “rightly imposed sanctions on Russia”, but “next to nothing” is done regarding sanctioning Israel. While the UK has slapped sanctions regularly and broadly on Russian officials and individuals, it has sanctioned just two far-right Israeli ministers.
UK’s Palestine Action ban: Six activists deny ‘terror’ charges
Six activists have been released on bail after denying “terror” charges in the United Kingdom for their alleged support for the group Palestine Action. The activists, aged between 26 and 62, risk up to 14 years in prison.
The British government proscribed Palestine Action in July under the country’s Terrorism Act 2000, drawing widespread criticism that the move infringes on freedom of speech and the right to protest.
Hundreds of people have been arrested across the UK since then for expressing support for the group at rallies in several cities.
Representatives of the group Defend Our Juries, to which the arrested individuals belonged, confirmed yesterday that more demonstrations would go ahead on Saturday in London in England, Derry in Northern Ireland, and Edinburgh in Scotland.
