This week I tried to enter the illegally occupied West Bank, along with two other British parliamentarians and an international delegation of observers.
asserted
I → try → observers
We were all interrogated and detained by Israeli forces for nearly eight hours and finally prevented from crossing the border.
asserted
We → interrogate → border
Our unpleasant experience pales in comparison to the daily experience of Palestinians living under occupation.
asserted
experience → pal → occupation
Year after year, decade after decade, Palestinians have faced not simply inconvenience but a systematic attempt to eradicate their existence.
asserted
Palestinians → face → existence
We have seen a genocide in its most brutal form in Gaza.
asserted
We → see → Gaza
But in the West Bank we see a slow-motion form of ethnic cleansing, perpetrated by Israeli forces and their settler militias.
asserted
we → see → forces
And it gets worse.
asserted
it → get → ?
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on Israel last month to do the same in the occupied West Bank as “what we did in Gaza”.
asserted
we → call → Gaza
And so we came to shed light on Israel’s crimes, including the brutal attacks on olive harvesters which seek to deprive Palestinians of the livelihood that sustains them.
asserted
that → come → them
As the suffering inflicted on Palestinians grows ever more extreme, so Israel moves to stop the outside world from bearing witness.
asserted
Israel → inflict → witness
In the last 18 months, two British delegations of MPs have been turned away.
asserted
delegations → turn → MPs
Through three years of genocide in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 200 Palestinian journalists, with much evidence suggesting direct targeting.
asserted
Israel → kill → targeting
In the Hebron operation last week, Israeli forces used tear gas on journalists attempting to film the demolition of Palestinian homes.
asserted
forces → use → homes
The message is clear: the world must not see what is happening here.
asserted
what → see → ?
A pivotal moment
Our visit, organised by Global Justice Now, came at a critical time, just before Israeli elections and shortly after the United Kingdom announced new sanctions on Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank.
asserted
Kingdom → organise → Bank
The elections have yet to produce a clear outcome, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could still be ousted from office.
uncertain
Netanyahu → have → office
We hope Netanyahu – a man who has perpetrated the most heinous war crimes – is removed from office.
asserted
who → hope → office
We hope he is made to answer for the genocide he has perpetrated.
asserted
he → hope → genocide
But sadly, we have no reason to believe that this will be the end of the suffering of the Palestinian people.
asserted
this → have → people
Nothing offered by Israel’s opposition indicates a change of course on Palestine.
asserted
Nothing → offer → Palestine
That is, unless we act.
asserted
we → act → ?
We have welcomed British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s change of direction in recent weeks.
asserted
We → welcome → weeks
But if we are to see real change in the Middle East, Britain must now make good on its promises and turn warm words into action.
asserted
Britain → see → action
Action needed now
The UK’s announcement of sanctions is important.
asserted
announcement → need → sanctions
But the sanctions need to be enacted rapidly; we simply cannot wait six months.
asserted
we → need → ?
First, the foreign secretary’s sanctions package must be enacted in the broadest way possible.
asserted
package → enact → way
Israel’s government has used settler militias to carry out brutal attacks on Palestinians and their land.
asserted
government → use → Palestinians
It is therefore the state that must face sanctions.
asserted
that → face → sanctions
What is more, stopping the construction of new settlements is not enough.
asserted
stopping → stop → settlements
We must make the whole settlement economy unviable, and roll back decades of apartheid.
asserted
economy → make → apartheid
We have ample opportunity to do so.
asserted
We → have → opportunity
The text of Britain’s sanctions regulations suggests the government can sanction companies that profit from the illegal settlements.
uncertain
that → suggest → settlements
We must do so.
asserted
We → do → ?
And while attention has focussed on companies bidding for the E1 settlement, we also need sanctions targeting entities that help facilitate the maintenance of the illegal settlements that already exist.
asserted
that → focusse → settlements
This should include companies that provide finance, insurance and surveillance technologies to the settlements and the infrastructure around them.
asserted
that → include → them
Second, although the government has confirmed that it will stop all arms sales to Israel that materially contribute to the occupation, components for F-35 jets are still allowed to reach Israel, helping keep those planes in the air over Gaza and the West Bank.
asserted
components → confirm → Gaza
Arms licences for aircraft that help train the very forces that oversee the occupation also continue.
asserted
that → help → occupation
These loopholes must be closed.
asserted
loopholes → close → ?
Let us be frank – we should not be selling weapons to a military which is perpetrating both a genocide and apartheid.
asserted
which → let → genocide
Finally, we cannot forget Gaza.
asserted
we → forget → Gaza
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
