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Greens call for scaling up actions against Israel, accusing UK government of complicity in killing

Text of a press release issued by the Green Party of England and Wales on 12th February 2024.

As Israel appears to be on the brink of an all out assault on Rafah, despite warnings against such action by the UN, Red Crescent and others, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer is demanding the UK scale up actions against the Israeli government until the killing stops. Greens are calling for an end to all arms sales to Israel, prosecutions of war criminals and targeted sanctions on Israel’s leaders. 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“It is clear that the Israeli government is refusing to heed warnings about the catastrophic implications of an all-out attack on Rafah. The UK government must now demand that Israel stop the killing, calling for an immediate ceasefire. Hamas must also agree to this ceasefire of course, and release all hostages.  

“Decisions made by the UK government - above all its failure, month after month, to call for an immediate ceasefire - have made them complicit in the killing of almost 28,000 people to date, 12,000 of whom are children [1]. 

“Israel relies on certain weapon parts manufactured in the UK, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter whose essential components are made here [2]. A Dutch court has today ordered the state to cease the export of F-35 spare parts to Israel. We call on the UK government to follow suit, and suspend all arms export licences to Israel until the killing stops. The UK must also cease all military collaboration with Israel, including allowing Israeli use of British bases and RAF intelligence flights over Gaza.

“Greens would also implement the requirements of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign across the UK economy. This would include excluding Israel from international sporting and music events; withdrawing all public money from funds with investments in Israel; and ending beneficial trade arrangements with Israel [3]. 

“It is clear that only outside pressure will make Israel stop its mass killing. We can increase the pressure on Israeli leaders by introducing targeted sanctions against key individuals. This would include travel bans and asset freezes on Israel's leadership and cabinet members, in particular those calling for new settlements in Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank. 

“Finally, we would encourage UK authorities including the Metropolitan Police and Director of Public Prosecutions to pursue perpetrators of war crimes committed where UK citizens are the victims or where UK citizens are potential perpetrators. 

“There are many steps the UK government could take to pressure Israel to stop the killing. Its refusal to do so means that they are implicitly condoning the appalling carnage in Gaza.” 

Notes

  1. Israel-Gaza war in maps and charts: Live tracker | Israel War on Gaza News | Al Jazeera 
  2. Who Arms Israel? (workersinpalestine.org)
  3. This is consistent with the Green Party’s non-violent approach to demonstrating its opposition to breaches of human rights and international law. It is parallel to calls we have made for boycotts of a number of different countries in the past including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, China, and Qatar.

The Euro elections saw a Green advance and a majority against BREXIT but revealed a country still profoundly divided and a broken political system. The challenge now is to find a way out of the BREXIT stalemate that respects both democracy and minority views.

Green advance

According to Enfield Green Party Press Officer David Flint, “Today we have seven MEPs, four more than yesterday and we are the fourth largest party by votes. We outpolled the Tories – once a mighty electoral machine – by 12% to 9%!”

Enfield Green Party congratulates Scott Ainslie on being elected as MEP for London.

In this the UK reflects the pattern across Europe – the new European Parliament will include a lot more Green MEPs. “The wider European result shows deepening support for Green policies in defence of the environment and humane values” said Flint, “policies that will be essential whatever happens about BREXIT.”

“Here in Enfield we are excited that 10% of voters endorsed the Green Party. These are people who reject the folly of BREXIT, the Tory narrative of meanness and the muddle of Labour.” These results confirm the Green advances in the recent local elections where the party more than doubled its number of councillors.

Remain remains ahead

Though the media has stressed the spectacular growth in the BREXIT Party the votes for remain parties exceeded BREXIT and UKIP votes by 40% to 35%. “It is NOT TRUE”, said Flint, “that the whole scountry wants BREXIT.”

UK still deeply divided

In fact the UK remains profoundly divided, with sizeable minorities for remain, for compromise and for hard BREXIT. Parliament too is divided. “Our political system is broken” said Flint. “Built for a two-party world it cannot cope with three, let alone four or five parties. It’s time to do politics differently. To find a way forward that is democratic but respects minorities. Both Labour and the Tories have now shown that they cannot do this. Change must come.”

For more comment call press officer David Flint on 07894 7095 873 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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