Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband’s package of sanctions against Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and particularly against its increasingly violent settlement programme, is the most significant reset of UK Middle East policy in a generation.
In a post on social media immediately following the announcement I simply said:
“Thank you, Ed Miliband, for demonstrating that the UK can rediscover its moral compass and uphold both international law and equal rights for all, whether they be Israelis or Palestinians.”
Unsurprisingly, not everyone feels the same way. We have already seen it in the aggressive response of Israel’s government and the blatantly misleading way it continues to describe its actions in Palestine. So too has there been the hostility from Sir Ephraim Mirvis, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth.
Ed Miliband – as a Jew himself – has pointed out why the Chief Rabbi’s characterisation of government policy is wrong.
Significantly too, there has also already been pushback against Sir Ephraim Mirvis’ response from well-known religious figures in Britain’s Jewish communities – with several senior rabbis making clear that his words do not reflect the diversity of views amongst Jews in this country.
To set the record straight about what the government has announced this week, and its significance for UK policy, for international cooperation and for Israel and Palestine, this detailed Substack commentary by Dr Brian Brivati, Director of the Britain Palestine Project, is well worth reading.
