26 nov 2014
The British government stated, on Monday, that it will review arms export licenses to Israel, to ensure that the use of such weapons does not contravene international law.
Britain reviewed, in August, all arms export licenses to Israel after the recent military assault on Gaza, announcing that it will halt 12 arms export licenses to Israel if military operations in Gaza are resumed.
According to Al Ray, the new reviews come following recent reports of a Palestinian killed by Israeli soldiers, near the border fence, in the Gaza Strip.
A spokesperson for Britain claimed that the August reviews reflect that most licensed exports to Israel do not includes materials used in the Gaza assault.
Furthermore, in July, a British parliamentary committee issued a report stating that the outstanding contracts approved by the government include export of dual-use or military goods to Israel. It estimated the cost of these goods up to 7.8 billion pounds (US $ 12.3 billion), and includes contracts to provide body armor components, unmanned aircraft and missile parts to Israel.
A group called "Campaign against the Arms Trade" recently published an analysis which shows that Britain had approved military licenses to Israel worth 7 million pounds, just six months prior to the war on Gaza.
The government says that it does not cast doubt on the figure.
Britain reviewed, in August, all arms export licenses to Israel after the recent military assault on Gaza, announcing that it will halt 12 arms export licenses to Israel if military operations in Gaza are resumed.
According to Al Ray, the new reviews come following recent reports of a Palestinian killed by Israeli soldiers, near the border fence, in the Gaza Strip.
A spokesperson for Britain claimed that the August reviews reflect that most licensed exports to Israel do not includes materials used in the Gaza assault.
Furthermore, in July, a British parliamentary committee issued a report stating that the outstanding contracts approved by the government include export of dual-use or military goods to Israel. It estimated the cost of these goods up to 7.8 billion pounds (US $ 12.3 billion), and includes contracts to provide body armor components, unmanned aircraft and missile parts to Israel.
A group called "Campaign against the Arms Trade" recently published an analysis which shows that Britain had approved military licenses to Israel worth 7 million pounds, just six months prior to the war on Gaza.
The government says that it does not cast doubt on the figure.
4 nov 2014
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi
PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi asserts that “the British government bears the human, legal, political and moral responsibility to undo its serious mistakes of the past by recognizing the State of Palestine, and supporting current and future Palestinian multilateral initiatives of resorting to all venues of international judicial accountability for Israel and the protection for Palestine.”
“Ninety-seven years ago, the British government committed a grave historical injustice at the expense of the Palestinians by signing over their homeland to the Jewish people with the Balfour Declaration,” Ashrawi stated, in a recent press release issued by PLO Executive Committee Department of Culture and Information.
According to WAFA, she stressed that ‘decades have passed and the people of Palestine continue to be denied their basic human rights to justice and self-determination.’
"The people of Palestine can no longer afford to wait, as Israel succeeds with its extreme and escalating policies to Judaize Jerusalem and to ethnically cleanse it of its indigenous Muslim and Christian Palestinian residents, among other violations of international law," Dr. Ashrawi added.
“With Israel’s most recent actions of closing Al-Aqsa Mosque and preventing Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Haram Al-Sharif, Israel is undertaking a supreme and dangerous provocation and inciting sectarian warfare in the region and beyond,” she further stated.
“Palestine is disappearing before our very own eyes; unless Britain, the European Union, the United Nations, and other members of the international community act immediately to hold Israel accountable, Israel will succeed in establishing ‘Greater Israel’ and in destroying the chances for a Palestinian state once and for all,” the release concluded.
PLO Executive Committee member, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi asserts that “the British government bears the human, legal, political and moral responsibility to undo its serious mistakes of the past by recognizing the State of Palestine, and supporting current and future Palestinian multilateral initiatives of resorting to all venues of international judicial accountability for Israel and the protection for Palestine.”
“Ninety-seven years ago, the British government committed a grave historical injustice at the expense of the Palestinians by signing over their homeland to the Jewish people with the Balfour Declaration,” Ashrawi stated, in a recent press release issued by PLO Executive Committee Department of Culture and Information.
According to WAFA, she stressed that ‘decades have passed and the people of Palestine continue to be denied their basic human rights to justice and self-determination.’
"The people of Palestine can no longer afford to wait, as Israel succeeds with its extreme and escalating policies to Judaize Jerusalem and to ethnically cleanse it of its indigenous Muslim and Christian Palestinian residents, among other violations of international law," Dr. Ashrawi added.
“With Israel’s most recent actions of closing Al-Aqsa Mosque and preventing Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Haram Al-Sharif, Israel is undertaking a supreme and dangerous provocation and inciting sectarian warfare in the region and beyond,” she further stated.
“Palestine is disappearing before our very own eyes; unless Britain, the European Union, the United Nations, and other members of the international community act immediately to hold Israel accountable, Israel will succeed in establishing ‘Greater Israel’ and in destroying the chances for a Palestinian state once and for all,” the release concluded.
14 may 2014
The British government has granted temporary diplomatic immunity to Israeli justice minister Tzipi Livni few days before her visit to the UK to protect her against arrest and potential prosecution for breaches of international law including war crimes, Israeli media sources said. "Since the visit meets all the essential elements for a special mission, and for avoidance of any doubt on the matter, the British Foreign Office has confirmed consent to the visit as a special mission," the media sources quoted the British Foreign Office as declaring.
The British decision came following a warrant for Livni's arrest submitted by lawyers acting on behalf of a relative of a Palestinian killed in the bombing of a police compound on the first day of Israel's military assault on Gaza, which began in December 2008.
For her part, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign Sarah Colborne expressed her disappointment at the British government's decision for giving a safe haven to suspected war criminals.
On the 66th anniversary of Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), Palestine Solidarity Campaign declared its intention to organize a demonstration on Thursday protesting Livni's visit to the UK for her involvement in war crimes during Israeli aggression on Gaza in 2008, during which 1,417 Palestinians were killed including 313 children while 5,303 Palestinians were injured.
Livni had cancelled in 2009 a visit to London after an arrest warrant was issued by Westminster court. However; the British government has later changed the law to require prior approval from the Department of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant in connection with international war crimes could be issued.
During her visit, Livni is expected to meet with a number of British Ministers, and to give a speech at the headquarters of the Jewish National Fund.
The British decision came following a warrant for Livni's arrest submitted by lawyers acting on behalf of a relative of a Palestinian killed in the bombing of a police compound on the first day of Israel's military assault on Gaza, which began in December 2008.
For her part, director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign Sarah Colborne expressed her disappointment at the British government's decision for giving a safe haven to suspected war criminals.
On the 66th anniversary of Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), Palestine Solidarity Campaign declared its intention to organize a demonstration on Thursday protesting Livni's visit to the UK for her involvement in war crimes during Israeli aggression on Gaza in 2008, during which 1,417 Palestinians were killed including 313 children while 5,303 Palestinians were injured.
Livni had cancelled in 2009 a visit to London after an arrest warrant was issued by Westminster court. However; the British government has later changed the law to require prior approval from the Department of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant in connection with international war crimes could be issued.
During her visit, Livni is expected to meet with a number of British Ministers, and to give a speech at the headquarters of the Jewish National Fund.
8 jan 2014
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To the public, Tony Blair's legacy is tainted by the Iraq war.But since leaving office, he's been trying to carve a new legacy -- among the global business elite.
Welcome to Tony Blair Incorporated. These are Tony Blair's Head Quarters in London, just a stones-throw away from the American embassy. This is where Blair has made his estimated £70 million fortune. |
7 jan 2014
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Britain’s security giant, G4S, is facing investigation over providing the Israeli regime with surveillance equipment used at military checkpoints in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) UK staff will be investigating the security company’s supply of equipment to Israeli security services. G4S provides equipment for Israeli-run prisons and detention facilities in the occupied West Bank, where human rights organisations have documented systematic torture and ill treatment of Palestinian prisoners, including child inmates. The UK security company also provides equipment and services to Israeli |
checkpoints in the occupied West Bank that form part of the route of Israel’s apartheid wall and to the terminals isolating the besieged territory of Gaza.
Now, the OECD, which operates under the umbrella of the Department of Business in the UK, will launch a probe into whether the supply of surveillance kits to Israel violates the guidelines for multinational enterprises – a set of government-backed recommendations for “responsible business conduct” overseas.
G4S as a company from an OECD-member country is not allowed to supply such services that help the occupation since Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law.
Last month, UK citizens were warned of the risks of doing business with illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
Israel systematically denies Palestinian prisoners their basic rights, including the right to a fair trial and to protection from arbitrary detention which are enshrined in international law.
Now, the OECD, which operates under the umbrella of the Department of Business in the UK, will launch a probe into whether the supply of surveillance kits to Israel violates the guidelines for multinational enterprises – a set of government-backed recommendations for “responsible business conduct” overseas.
G4S as a company from an OECD-member country is not allowed to supply such services that help the occupation since Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law.
Last month, UK citizens were warned of the risks of doing business with illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
Israel systematically denies Palestinian prisoners their basic rights, including the right to a fair trial and to protection from arbitrary detention which are enshrined in international law.