The FT has reported this morning that:
The EU has urged member states to impose “consequences” on Israel if its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to oppose Palestinian statehood, as Brussels looks to step up pressure on the premier to advance efforts towards long-term peace.
Netanyahu's government in Israel has led that country into a war that is resulting in genocide with the aim of wiping out Gaza and the chance of there being a Palestinian state, all in furtherance of a policy of apartheid within that country that he has been pursuing for some time.
Finally, the EU is noticing.
There is talk of embargos and sanctions.
There is a demand for a two-state solution.
And the underlying sentiment that Netanyahu must go to make any solution possible is growing.
This is not anti-semitic. It is the frank recognition that Palestinians and Jews both have rights.
Saying so recognises that Hamas has also committed atrocities. It is, however, a recognition that Hamas' wrongs cannot justify what is happening now.
So, compromise is necessary, but given that all the power rests with Netanyahu, is there any serious alternative now but to discuss sanctions, boycotts and embargos on Israel so that pressure is brought to bear to demand that he be ousted? What else can be on the agenda?
And where are our government and Labour?
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I am no fan of Labour in Name only and abhor the equivocation on Gaza.
However, I do acknowledge that saying anything to criticise the Israeli government is a minefield for any politician.
The words of the Chief Rabbi reported in the Guardian make chilling reading.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/21/israel-actions-gaza-not-genocide-uk-chief-rabbi-sir-ephraim-mirvis
“The chief rabbi has said using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza is an “increasingly frequent, disingenuous misappropriation of the term”.
Sir Ephraim Mirvis said the use of the term was a “moral inversion, which undermines the memory of the worst crimes in human history” and was designed to “tear open the still gaping wound of the Holocaust”.”
The UN think it is a genocide
I think they are the arbiter
Hear, hear.
It is Israel who is appropriating the term – no one else. The descent into Fascist victimhood has begun already for those in charge in Israel.
Do we need a new word for genocide for non-Jewish persons then – is this is where we are going?
It is identity politics gone mad.
Genocide is genocide – what is happening in Gaza looks the same to me given how many women, children and elderly and infirm non-combatants have been killed by Israel which is using a hammer to crack a nut.
Israel has made its point many, many times over.
Thank you to Helen and Richard. I echo Richard’s reply.
The chief rabbi is not unknown for being disingenuous and partisan, vide his party political broadcast in tandem with the Archbishop of Canterbury on behalf of the Tories in December 2019. His son Danny is also serving with the IOF.
Thanks Col Smithers – thats helpful background.
Though Im always conscious of great organisations amongst the Jewish community, both here and in Israel who have the courage to speak out. JFJFP and +972 as two examples. Their reports are always worth reading.
Israel and some sections of the Jewish community do not have a monopoly over the term genocide. The Ukrainians and the Holodomor, the Armenians in Turkey, and the Tutsis in Rwanda for starters. By dismissing criticism of Israel’s merciless brutality against civilians in Gaza following decades of brutal discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, as just anti-semitism, the chief rabbi and others undermine efforts to tackle real anti-semitism.
I suspect that Israel by its actions in Gaza has lost the support of many who might previously have been neutral or supportive, especially after Hamas’s appalling attack. Their actions in Gaza have exposed what they have doing to Palestinians for years, that people turned a blind eye to or were just unaware of. That support will not come back. It does not help that there are some very dark and unpleasant forces lined up against Israel, who feel that their cause has now been justified by Israel’s actions. It is now much harder for the West to argue with them without looking deeply hypocritical.
Netanyahu, Bolsonaro and Trump are three of a kind. Johnson might be included but he lacks the viscousness. He is just indifferent to the suffering of others.
All appeal to ethnic nationalism and prejudice. All have ended up in courts or Parliamentary enquiries. All consider the rules don’t apply to them.
Israel’s problems go further than one man, however. I have been of your opinion for some time now.
I think if Britain still had a say in the EU it would be in sympathy with Germany’s position (although not going as far as Germany’s unconditional support – with Germany’s deeply misplaced historical guilt reasons).
At the state foreign policy level within the EU, it is to Ireland’s great credit – in staunch support of the Palestinian’s plight, and advocating for them – that the EU are moving slowly towards this policy.
“The EU has urged member states to impose “consequences” on Israel”
I’m not in favour of heavily armed or indeed lightly armed soliders killing (murdering?) women & children.
I’m not in favour of what has happened to the Palestinians over the past 75 years.
Israel does a great deal of business with the EU. Thus how about this:
1. Stop the killing now
2. No more settlements on the west bank & a reduction in ones since 2000?
3. Help the Gazans rebuild.
Until substantial action on 1 – 3 – then: no flights EU – Israel, no Israeli citizens allowed entry (they do love hols in Cyprus btw), widthdraw all diplomats, no trade, no SWIFT (oops Israel out of the banking system) in short total isolation. Total.
If this was done, Israel would fold within 24 hrs & Netanyahu would be out on his ear. Note that this is entirely within the “gift” of the EU & is entirely peaceful – which of course means that absolutely nothing will happen. In the time I have taken to write this, another Palestinian has been killed or injured.
Last comment: compare and contrast the IDF with the behaviour of the Ukrainain army vs Russians & the treatment of Russian prisoners.
I think tgat could be ratcheted up, but worldwide revulsion at what Netanyahu is still ordering should be reflected in action leading to isolation now
This is what the peaceful BDS movement( Boycott, Divest, Sanction) has been trying to do for many years, being aware of the bad situation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank but Israel has successfully deemed it to be “anti-Semitic” and those who support Israel no matter what, especially in the US have been able to sideline it. This latest awful war is the result. Lets hope the West, remember how we stand up for human rights? Lets hope we do.
I came across a quote from Simon Wiesenthal: “For your benefit, learn from our tragedy. It is not a written law that the next victims must be Jews. It can also be other people. We saw it begin in Germany with Jews, but people from more than twenty other nations were also murdered.” To which must be added, it is not a written law that the next perpetrators will not be Jews.
Excellent piece on Jew For Justice For Palestinians:
https://jfjfp.com/israelis-cant-understand-how-they-could-be-accused-of-genocide/
Recognising that anyone can commit terrible things, even some Jews. That is going to be tough for Israelis to accept but until they do, the country will not change.
Excellent article. Thank you for sharing.
Many thanks,
Neil M
Wow – now that is a powerful statement and so prescient. Thanks for sharing.
There was an interesting letter in the Guardian a while ago now from some ministers in Yorkshire who said that whenever their churches did something for Palestinians they immediately had various Jewish organisations breathing down their necks.
But at the end of the day in the same way that Hamas and Palestinians are not the same so are Jews and the State of Israel.
Precisely, in both cases
I remember TV footage of the celebrations from many Jews and Palestinians when the Oslo accords were signed. many people on both sides were jubilant at the thought of peace. Largely because of Netanyahu the required further negotiations did not take place and today we are witnessing the violence that is a result. There are good people on both sides, if they were allowed to work together for peace what a change there would be; Security and prosperity for all. Lets hope.
I think this post on Facebook makes a very powerful point.
The only remaining supporters of Israel are on the far-right, fascist Right.
For them, any pile of brown bodies of children, women, elderly men and other men is just not enough.
They want more in support of a white-supremacist future.
Like US Republicans, UK Conservatives, and sotto voce; USA Democrats and UK ‘Labour’.
https://skwawkbox.org/2024/01/21/why-does-the-march-against-antisemitism-look-so-much-like-a-national-front-rally/
The irony of course is that the very worst of anti-semitism has come from the far-right. The alliance of Israel and its supporters with what are near enough fascist groups will not end well.
It’s often said, usually as a diversionary tactic, that the Israel/Palestine conflict is “very difficult” and “highly complex”, but this clever documentary hits all the key historical points and explains the key role Netanyahu has played in destroying the prospect of a two-state solution in under 25 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PeYDphtHYo
You have to admit that Netanyahu is making “good” use of the Overton window provided by Joe “I’ve got your back, buddy” Biden.