British MPs condemn Israeli policy

At least 42 Members of Parliament (MPs) in Britain have signed a number of Early Day Motions (EDM) criticising Israel's brutal policy in the Occupied Territories (OT) and its violation of international laws.

Three of these EDMs, tabled to the House of Commons by Labour MP John Austin, who is also Co-Chairman of the London-based NGO Council for Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), has focused on military and settlement actions in the OT.

The EDMs can be very effective and influential in making government policy in the Middle East, if they are supported by a large number of MPs. The CAABU has launched a campaign to encourage its members and friends to write to their MPs to join the signatories.

The EDM's 188 points to the deteriorating health situation says: "Child malnutrition in Gaza now is similar to that of the sub-Saharan Africa," as a direct result of Israel's imposition of checkpoints, curfews and closures in the OT.

The motion adds: "This house notes that Israel's right to self defence does not absolve it of its own obligations under the international humanitarian law and the United Nations resolutions and that the British government should insist that Israel abide by these obligations, including stopping land expropriation and settlement-building, ending collective punishment of Palestinians and a full withdrawal from the OTs."

The EDM's article 203 deals with the illegal settlements and notes that since February 2001 "there have been 44 new settler outposts," and further notes that these "are in direct contradiction to any notion of a two-state solution and violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Security Council resolutions."

It further notes the illegal sale of these settlements products in the European Union markets at preferential trade rates, "in violation of the EU-Israel Trade Association agreement," and calls upon the British government "to raise these issues within the UN and the EU."

The third motion, EDM 218, condemns the killing of Ian Hook, British UN worker by the Israeli army in Jenin on November 22 and the shooting of Caoimhe Butterly,Irish volunteer.