Bishop Rachel has signed the following letter, which sets out urgent concerns and specific requests to the Government regarding the deteriorating situation in Palestine and the need for immediate international action.
Dear Minister, Dear Secretary of State, Dear Middle East Minister,
Thank you for your respective letters of 3 March.
We much regret the absence of progress on Government actions commended in our letter to you of 22 December, and deplore the deterioration in conditions on the ground in the state of Palestine, rightly recognised as such by both our Governments.
As we write, Israel has again closed the Gaza Rafah crossing and locked down the entire West Bank.
The Government actions set out in our December letter still stand. They are :
– a ban on trade in goods and services (including investment) with illegal Israeli
settlements
– accountability for breaches of International Law, whoever commits them
– enabling the UN and NGOs to do their jobs in Palestine
– Gaza access by diplomatic missions accredited to Palestine.
The Israeli and US attacks on Iran will potentially be used as an excuse for inaction. This would be a mistake. The same disregard for international law by Israel and others, and the failure of the international community to hold them to account, cannot continue.
Some will point to this inaction as the driver behind these unlawful attacks on Iran. However oppressive and corrupt this Iranian regime may be – and it is – ignoring the law opens the door to mayhem and worse.
In Gaza, the « ceasefire » of October last year is not genuine ; over 600 Palestinians have been killed since then – most of them women and children. Israel continues to deny access to diplomats, journalists and international aid workers, and severely restricts food, medicines and temporary accommodation. It denies access for mobile hospitals on spurious grounds. The « Gazafication » of the West Bank is intensifying, with the forced displacement of entire Palestinian communities, rampant murderous settler violence aided and abetted by the Israeli army, and unlawful measures to annex de facto the West Bank, tearing up the Oslo Accords. The Israeli Security Cabinet’s decision to register Palestinian land as Israeli state property is an assertion of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, in flagrant breach of international law. This is annexation.
In this context we ask you to address specifically two illegal Israeli actions : the issuing of tenders to build the E1 settlement with the declared aim of « burying the two-state solution » and the ban on UNRWA and 37 international NGOs from operating in Palestine.
E1 settlement tenders – action needed
Tenders have been issued to build E1. We ask you and like-minded opponents of this disastrous project to warn now, before tenders are opened, that any individual or corporate body engaging in planning and building E1 puts at risk their ability to do business in or with our countries. Tenders were to be opened on 16 March. The US/Israel/Iran war means that deadline will not be met – but the warning by our governments is urgently needed.
We recommend that this warning be followed by a comprehensive ban on trade with settlements – goods, services and investment – consistent with the July 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice and, in the case of Ireland, the unanimous advice of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade.
UNRWA and international NGOs operating in Palestine
The Israeli Government’s unlawful ban on 37 reputable NGOs is now before the Israeli High Court. We ask the British and Irish Governments to make clear to Israel that there will be severe economic and political consequences if it does not rescind the banning order, and permit UNRWA to fulfil the mission it holds from the UN General Assembly. Enclosed is a factual assessment by the Norwegian Refugee Council (funded by both our Governments) of the truly terrible impact on the lives of Palestinians unless these decisions are reversed. We are witnessing systematic efforts to « privatise » the delivery of humanitarian assistance and thus destroy the UN and international aid structures on which peoples across the world depend. Gaza is only the start. We must not let it happen.
We ask you to respond urgently to these two specific requests. We reserve the right to raise Israel/Palestine in the British Irish Parliamentary Assembly (22-24 March).
Signed:
Debbie Abrahams MP
Seán Crowe TD
Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD
Jen Cummins TD
Ciarán Ahern TD
Baroness Curran
Carla Denyer MP
Máire Devine TD
The Baroness Alexander of Cleveden FRSE
Senator Chris Andrews
Ivana Bacik TD
Paul Donnelly TD
The Lord Dubs
Paula Barker MP
Cathy Bennett TD
Siân Berry MP
Clive Betts MP
Senator Frances Black
Colum Eastwood MP
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Blackstone
Senator Victor Boyhan
Richard Burgon MP
Joanna Byrne TD
Holly Cairns TD
The Rt Hon. Alistair Carmichael MP
The Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay
Sinéad Ennis MLA
Mairéad Farrell TD
Patricia Ferguson MP
Senator Eileen Flynn
Andrew George MP
Sinéad Gibney TD
Ann Graves TD
The Rt Hon. Louise Haigh MP
The Rt Hon. the Lord Hain
The Rt Rev. the Lord Bishop of Southwark
Dr Ellie Chowns MP
Rose Conway Walsh TD
Réada Cronin TD
Senator Laura Harmon
Eoin Hayes TD
Rory Hearne TD
Ruth Jones MP
Declan Kearney MLA
Ben Lake MP
George Lawlor TD
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD
Rachael Maskell MP
Andy McDonald MP
Mary Lou McDonald TD
Senator Michael McDowell
Pauline McNeill MSP
Denise Mitchell TD
The Baroness Mobarik CBE
Abtisam Mohamed MP
Layla Moran MP
Johnny Mythen TD
Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh TD
Senator Malcolm Noonan
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Northover
The Lord Oates
Roderic O’Gorman TD
Brendan O’Hara MP
Louis O’Hara TD
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire TD
Ruairí Ó Murchú TD
Dr Simon Opher MP
Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin TD
Sarah Owen MP
Liam Quaide TD
Adrian Ramsay MP
Senator Lynn Ruane
Pádraig Rice TD
Naz Shah MP
Marie Sherlock TD
Pat Sheehan MLA
Emma Sheerin MLA
Cat Smith MP
Duncan Smith TD
The Rt Hon. the Lord Soames of Fletching
Hannah Spencer MP
Brian Stanley TD
Senator Patricia Stephenson
The Rt Hon. the Lord Swire KCMG
The Rt Rev. the Lord Bishop of Gloucester
Pauline Tully TD
Barry Ward TD
Mark Ward TD
Matt Western MP
Yuan Yang MP
