Conference notes that the Hamas attack of 7th October 2023 and the on-going Israeli destruction of Gaza which followed are but the latest, and most devastating, episode in a cycle of recurring violence in Israel and Palestine, which must be brought to an end.
Conference further notes the recent interventions of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. It welcomes the ruling of the ICJ that the Occupation of Palestine is illegal and that settlements in the Palestinian territories must cease, and that member states of the UN are forbidden to support the Occupation. It also notes with approval the attempts by the ICC to bring to justice the alleged perpetrators of war crimes on both sides of the conflict.
Conference reaffirms its wholehearted belief in the universal liberal principles of human rights, democracy, international law, and the self-determination of peoples. This belief assumes a moral obligation on the part of our political leaders to ensure that these principles guide our foreign policy.
Conference believes there is a danger of a “forever war” with dire consequences for Israelis and Palestinians, for the whole region and for us in Britain that must be averted. The universality of International Humanitarian Law, and the need for accountability for those who breach it, must be re-asserted. The trajectory of violence and lawlessness must be stopped and then reversed. Only a concerted effort by a broad coalition of states committed to upholding International Law can do this. It must be done urgently.
Conference demands that the underlying causes are now addressed: 76 years of the continuous Nakba, which began under the British Mandate for Palestine (1923 – 48); 57 years of entrenched occupation; 17 years of the Gaza blockade; dispossession and the suppression of all means of peaceful resistance; expanding illegal settlements and settler violence and the continuing denial of basic Palestinian rights, including the right of self-determination.
Peace with Justice: How to get There
Conference calls on the UK government to pursue the following immediate requirements
- Hamas and Israel agree to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, with the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages;
- Hamas immediately halts its indiscriminate rocket fire against Israeli civilian targets, and Israel halts indiscriminate rocket fire against all civilians, Palestinian and Israeli;
- Israel removes all aid restrictions, and fully and actively facilitates the delivery of essential humanitarian aid (food, water, electricity, medical supplies, and shelter) to the Gaza Strip;
- Israel guarantees the safety of all humanitarian workers, vehicles and installations, as well as essential civilian infrastructure protected under International Humanitarian Law. Starvation must never be used as a weapon of war and famine must not be engineered. Aid supplies must be sufficient to meet the needs of all Palestinians in Gaza;
- Israel gives unfettered access for all UN agencies including UNRWA, and abandon plans to designate UNRWA as a terrorist organisation, an organisation that it has prevented from undertaking its responsibility for the wellbeing of 2.1 million Gazans;
- Israel freezes all settlement building in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, halting the massive expansion of the Jewish settler population and takeover of Palestinian land beyond the 1948 Green Line, intended to make the Two-State Solution impossible; and
- Israel ends the unprecedented levels of settler violence in the West Bank, which is aided and abetted by the Israeli state and security forces, and holds those responsible to account.
Conference further calls on the UK Government to pursue the following additional steps as a matter of priority
- Recognise the State of Palestine unilaterally and immediately, alongside Israel on the 1948 Green Line borders, and support Palestine’s full membership of the UN as a state. Without these steps, the UK commitment to the two-state solution is meaningless;
- Press for the immediate release of political prisoner Marwan Bargouthi, who is the most popular potential leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and has been imprisoned and maltreated in an Israeli gaol for many years – recognising the striking similarities to the imprisonment and ultimate release of Nelson Mandela;
- Work with the US, EU, Arab partners and others to end the violence in Gaza, the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and Israel through, inter alia, an inclusive international conference – as proposed by both the EU High Representative and the Arab League Summit in Bahrain. The 57-year Occupation must end with international guarantees of a sovereign, independent Palestinian State on the pre-June 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem;
- Continue to provide political support for UNRWA in the face of a concerted campaign by Israel to end its longstanding role as the mainstay of over six million Palestinian refugees;
- End collusion in war crimes by calling for justice and accountability under preexisting international bodies and laws
- End arms sales to Israel, as well as other practical support being provided by the UK to the Israeli military campaign. Stop buying military and security equipment from Israeli companies;
- Ban settlement trade and ban UK-based companies including banks and other financial institutions from involvement with settlements or their support system in Israel, in line with the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the occupation is illegal;
- Ensure the UK fulfils its obligations under UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which our government helped draft and supported: to differentiate in all its dealings with Israel between the illegal settlements and Israel proper;
- Widen government advice to UK–based businesses to highlight the economic, legal and reputational risks of involvement with the occupation or Israel’s war on Gaza; and
- Increase UK sanctions against violent settlers, those who incite violence against Palestinian civilians, or advocate dispossession, expulsion or genocide, as well as organisations that fund these activities, including those outside Israel.
Finally, Conference calls on the UK Government to pursue the following steps in the medium to longer term:
- Assist if required in the establishment of a genuine, sovereign Palestinian State;
- Insist that, when fighting ends, Israel withdraws completely from the whole of the Gaza Strip, ending surveillance overflights and longstanding restrictions on Gazans’ access to their sea and its resources;
- Re-unite Gaza with the West Bank including East Jerusalem and support an interim Palestinian administration committed to mutual security and democracy for all Palestinians, leading, within a defined short time, to a sovereign Palestine with control of its own borders, free movement and jurisdiction over all its inhabitants;
- Contribute to the reconstruction of Gaza and revitalisation of the West Bank, taking into account the burden of disability and trauma, and the loss of skilled personnel;
- Support Palestinian civil society and political groups in building a broad coalition, reaffirming the PLO’s recognition of Israel on pre-June 1967 borders and committed to democratic renewal, leading to an elected government of the State of Palestine;
- Support the establishment of an international coalition to guarantee mutual security during the transition to a final resolution of this century-long conflict.
- Vote in the Security Council to enforce ICJ measures aimed at preventing further, ongoing war crimes being committed by Israeli forces in Gaza;
- Reject any role for UK judges in a scheme to monitor the treatment of Palestinian detainees in Israeli custody; the proposal attempts to supplant the work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to which Israel has denied access;
- Ensure Legal accountability for those aiding and abetting war crimes, including dual nationality British citizens fighting in the IDF, and those who have made comments in support of genocidal acts committed against Palestinians;
- Support the ICJ, ICC and UN Human Rights Council in holding to account all parties involved in breaches of international law, whether Israeli or Palestinian, as well as adhering to and implementing decisions by these international bodies, respecting and upholding their jurisdiction.