The UK has suspended 30 arms export licences to Israel following a review under the new Labour government which found that British-made weapons may have been used in the violation of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
Arms campaigners and rights advocates who have pressed for a full suspension of arms sales to Israel for months welcomed the decision, but criticised the continued export of F-35 fighter jet components which one called “a workhorse of Israel’s brutal bombing campaign”.
The announcement cames hours before two organisations which have challenged the UK government in the High Court over the continued exports were set to pursue fresh legal action in an attempt to force the exports to stop immediately.
Lawyers with the UK-based Global Legan Action Network (Glan) and the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq said they told the government last week of their intent to request an emergency order and had planned to do this at a Tuesday morning hearing.
Anna Stavrianakis, director of research and strategy at UK-based Shadow World Investigations and professor of international relations at the University of Sussex, told Middle East Eye that without the suspension of the F-35 components, the statement “seems more like an attempt to mollify critics than a meaningful restriction on Israel’s ability to commit genocide”.
Not a “Starmerite sycophant” whatever the hell that is. I am not a fervent supporter of any political party. I simply do not believe that Labour are inherently islamophobic - I’ve seen nothing to suggest that. Im not trying to cover anything up or deflect by saying that the Tories are Islamophobic. It’s relevant because the Tories have been in power and controlling foreign policy up until a month or so ago. If the Tories were still in charge, there would have been no change to the UK gov’s position.
Not that I think that Islamaphobia is the driving factor behind support for Israel, nor do I pretend to fully understand, besides the obvious fact that they’re an existing ally and were attacked by terrorism which kicked this off.
The tide is turning against the Israelian government’s scorched-earth policy but it’s taking too long, especially from the US side. Seemingly the Israelian people are also taking issue with their government’s position which is more pressure than we can exert from our side.
Btw Jeremy Corbyn was vindicated for what, defending Hamas and Hezbollah? Plenty of people have stood up for Palestine over the years without standing up for Hamas. Palestinians deserve to be free, not controlled by Hamas terrorists.