The government has been accused of “double standards and hypocrisy” in its treatment of the Palestinians by their top envoy to the UK. Husam Zomlot chastised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for turning down a case at the International Court of Justice that claimed Israel had committed genocide during the Gaza War. He claimed that the UK has sustained “reputational damage” in the Middle East. However, he applauded the government’s recent move to prevent aggressive Israeli settlers from entering the United Kingdom.
UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron threatened to ban Israelis who attacked Palestinians on X last month. The action came after the US announced a plan akin to this one. “This is very welcome,” Mr. Zomlot remarked. “In my opinion that was a very significant moment – not because of the policy itself but because this is the first time in 75 years the UK takes any step that has to do with sanctions [on Israel].” Reports have surfaced of an increase in settler violence in recent months, particularly in the wake of the massive Hamas strikes on Israel on October 7 and the Israeli military operation in Gaza that followed.
In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israel has controlled since the 1967 Middle East War and which the Palestinians want for their future state, there are over 700,000 Jewish settlers living in about 140 settlements. Although Israel contests this, the majority of the international world views the settlements as unlawful. Mr. Zomlot, however, disapproved of a government law that forbids public entities from engaging in business with Israel or Israeli settlements through boycott. The bill now moves to the House of Lords after passing its third and final reading in the Commons last Wednesday. “This represents the inconsistency,” Mr. Zomlot stated during a London press conference. “Exactly where are you [the UK]? Do you think that Israel is occupying and colonizing the 1967 borders militarily?
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