UK Sanctions on Israel – Virtue signalling or self harm?
The David Vance BriefingRead More
Hating on Israel is a core Labour value. It’s that simple and when you look at who votes for Labor, you can understand why. I am sure you will have the ludicrous figure of Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announce a set of new sanctions on Israel. Speaking in the Commons he unveiled what amounts to a new sanctions regime aimed principally at Israeli activity in the West Bank. At a time when Andy Burnham insists he is “focused” on economic growth in every UK postcode, this seems a bizarre move.
The key measures Miliband has introduced include
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A ban on imports from Israeli settlements in the disputed territories.
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Sanctions against companies and individuals involved in financing, constructing, providing infrastructure for, or selling property connected with settlement expansion.
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A ban on advertising Israeli settlement property in Britain.
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Further immediate sanctions against individual settlers accused of supporting or inciting violence against Palestinians.
The sheer stupidity of this is hard to underestimate. The Israeli companies operating in these areas of sanction employ many Palestinian workers. If there was to be any real economic impact, it is Palestinians that would bear the brunt of it. What does that achieve it?
Here’s another twist. Some of the fruits and vegetables grown in the disputed territories can be then transported into Israel proper, where it may be packed, processed, sold domestically or exported! Just consider a box containing 20kg of Medjool dates. If some were grown near Jericho in a West Bank settlement, others inside Israel, and they’re subsequently sorted and packaged at a facility inside Israel, how does a British customs officer establish the agricultural origin of every date? He can’t. The whole sanction is ludicrous.
The economic impact of this on Israel is minuscule but it has been carried for political effect and Israel has responded sharply. It announced that it will close the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, which handles Britain’s relations with the Palestinian Authority. It is also removing the UK from the US-led Gaza coordination mission in Israel and ending British training of Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank. In a final flourish it is also banning certain British politicians from entering Israel. Here is the list of the rogues;
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Jeremy Corbyn
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Zarah Sultana
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Naz Shah
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Diane Abbott
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John McDonnell
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Richard Burgon
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Hannah Spencer
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Carla Denyer
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Sian Berry
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Ellie Chowns
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Adrian Ramsay
I only wish we could ban them from the UK!
A broader group of 12 countries signed a joint declaration on this same topic and these include France, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. But the wording matters: they either intend to introduce national restrictions, support European restrictions, or are actively considering measures. The UK is ahead of them and it is the UK that is going to get mullered over it.
To the fore has been the US Ambassador to Israel the redoubtable Mike Huckabee. He called the British decision “irrational” and warned that there would “without a doubt” be an American reaction. Huckabe argues that Britain is unfairly singling out Israel and wonderswhat London thinks the sanctions will actually achieve. Have a listen.
The most interesting part is his warning to British companies. Numerous US states have anti-boycott laws concerning Israel. Huckabee specifically cited Florida, saying British businesses required to comply with the UK restrictions could potentially find themselves excluded from contracts or business with public bodies there. Florida Republican Congressman Randy Fine has made essentially the same threat. And you can bet you bottom dollar that President Trump will not sit by and watch this UK assault on Israel. That should create some fireworks.
Some people express bemusement at this act from the Burnham Government. There’s no mystery to it whatsoever. This is Burnham pandering to his hard left pro Gaza MPs and his Muslim voting base.
It really is that simple. Labour has lost Muslim votes in recent years and this is a determined effort to try and regain those votes. When he became Labour, it was obvious that the British Government would pivot leftwards. That’s what we see happening and it will continue to play out domestically and internationally.
It seems to me that the UK Government is prepared to risk alienating itself from the US as long as it can align and ingratiate itself with the EU and other cucked nations like Canada. We expect an announcement that the Chagos surrender deal will also proceed, a direct repudiation of what President Trump thinks. I know it’s hard to swallow but Labour under Burnham is going to be even more dangerous than Labour under Starmer.
As a final thought; Teva Pharmaceuticals is Israel’s largest drug company and one of the world largest manufacturers of generic medicines. 1 in 7 of NHS prescriptions are filled with Teva products. What a cracking idea to pick a fight with the people that supplied a significant proportion of NHS drugs!
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