U.K. Parliament’s Israel Obsession

By Jonathan Hoffman

On 1 May CAABU published a letter to the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary demanding that they tell the government of Israel that the ‘annexation’ of any part of Judea and Samaria ‘will have severe consequences including sanctions’.  I wrote about it here.  UK Media Watch covered it here.

Recently a Labour MP, Siobhain Ann McDonagh, has gathered signatures for a letter to the Chinese Ambassador expressing outrage about China’s attempt at ethnic cleansing of the Uighur Muslims.

Israel postponed the application of Israeli law to part of Judea and Samaria as part of the peace agreement with the UAE.  But there is nothing illegal about Israel’s presence in Judea/Samaria. The San Remo Conference (1920) drew up rules for the British Mandate. Article 6 charged Britain with the duty to facilitate Jewish immigration and close settlement by Jews in the territory which then included Transjordan. It has never been revoked so remains valid today.

Contrast that with China’s treatment of the Uighur. As Siobhain McDonagh states, around one million have been detained in detention camps. Those who escape give horrifying testimony of religious persecution, physical abuse and torture. There are allegations that Uighur women are facing forced sterilisation, forced abortion and forced removal of their wombs.

You would think that far more Parliamentarians would sign the letter about the Uighur than the one about Israel, since the latter’s proposed action involved no human rights transgression or illegality.  Well you’d be wrong.  The CAABU letter attracted 140 signatures of Parliamentarians whereas Siobhain McDonagh’s letter attracted 136 (including her own).

But far more telling is the comparison of the two sets of signatories. 92 or 66% of the anti-Israel signatories failed to protest about the treatment of the Uighur. Here is the breakdown by Party:

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Two-thirds of the anti-Israel Labour MPs are unmoved by the plight of the Uighur; NONE of the Conservative MPs; more than half of the SNP MPs.

Notably the following anti-Israel Parliamentarians failed to protest about the treatment of the Uighur:  Diane Abbott MP; Mhairi Black MP; Baroness Blower; Crispin Blunt MP; Ben Bradshaw MP; Lord Menzies Campbell; Jeremy Corbyn MP; Lord Hollick; Baroness Kennedy; Afzal Khan MP; Stephen Kinnock MP; Andrew Mitchell MP; Grahame Morris MP; Lord Patten; Bel Ribeiro-Addy MP; Naz Shah MP; Andy Slaughter MP; Zarah Sultana MP; Lord Warner; Baroness Warsi; Claudia Webbe MP.

I know that “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” – but this is far, far worse than mere inconsistency………….

92 MPs and Lords have demonstrated a total lack of integrity………….

Just who do they think they are kidding?