"Our sanctions aren’t about the Israeli people, but about the unacceptable policies of the Israeli government, and the suffering they cause Palestinians" Andy Burnham, prime minister of the United Kingdom

The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a nearby medical supplies and pharmaceuticals warehouse belonging to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, 1 August 2026. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Opinion 

Palestine 

I believe in a two-state solution in the Middle East. That’s why we’re taking action to keep that hope alive

Andy Burnham

 

Tue 8 Sep 2026

In a difficult and dangerous world, a decade on from Brexit, there is a risk that Britain loses the confidence to lead and stand up for its values. I’m not prepared to let that happen. It is more important than ever that Britain stands for something.

We have called for years for a two-state solution in the Middle East, but we must recognise that those words are meaningless unless we back them up with action.

For too long, we have been hesitant to act, fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel. Today we are announcing carefully judged, targeted steps that are not aimed at the Israeli people, but at the unacceptable policies of the current Israeli government.

The suffering of the Palestinian people is a scar on the conscience of the world. Innocent Palestinians, including children, continue to be killed in Gaza. And there is still a humanitarian crisis, with far too little aid getting in.

The scale of destruction is hard to comprehend. More than 70,000 people lie dead – at least 20,000 of them children. Families and communities have been torn apart. Millions displaced. And the population of Gaza is now penned into just one third of the territory.

I know that people across the UK feel very deeply about this issue – and... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/08/uk-sanctions-israel-two-state-solution-middle-east-palestinians-andy-burnham

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UK accuses Israeli ‘terrorists’ of ethnic cleansing in West Bank with government backing. Ed Miliband announces sanctions on trade with settlements as PM says in the Guardian it is time to act

In his statement to parliament, Miliband said the UK government would enact:

• An import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories and a new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”.

• A comprehensive sanctions regime against providing services such as construction or financing for Israeli settlements and a ban on advertising them in the UK.

• Personal sanctions against key individuals accused of promoting settler violence.

• A new ban for arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”.
  

  

  Palestinian landowners, journalists and protesters run from teargas fired by Israeli security forces blocking a road leading to a newly built Israeli settlement near Dura in the West Bank in June. Photograph: Hazem Bader/AFP/Getty Images

 Pippa Crerar, Jessica Elgot and Kiran Stacey

Tue 8 Sep 2026

Settler terrorists supported by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are committing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, Ed Miliband has said, in the UK’s starkest condemnation since the foundation of the Israeli state.

Andy Burnham, the prime minister, said he would “not stand by” as horrific suffering continued, writing in the Guardian that for too long the UK had been hesitant to act, “fearful of being accused of being anti-Israel”.

In the Commons, the foreign secretary said the government would now take the official position that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety, as he announced sweeping sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements.

The dramatic shift in the UK’s position comes after a summer of intense diplomacy against a backdrop of increasing settler violence in the West Bank, which has resulted in 12 nations – including France and Canada – announcing they would impose sanctions.

In a joint statement Burnham, Emmanuel Macron and Mark Carney said: “The time has come to take further action to uphold our commitment to protect the two-state solution, our interests and to stand up for our values, before it is too late.”

In response, the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Saar, announced the closure of the UK consulate in Jerusalem and that 12 British MPs and activists – including Jeremy Corbyn and Labour MP Diane Abbott – would be banned from entering Israel.... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/08/uk-accuses-israeli-terrorists-ethnic-cleansing-west-bank-government-backing  

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Former British and French diplomats urge action over Israel’s ‘erasure’ of Palestine. In letter to Macron and Burnham, more than 100 senior figures accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing and call for measures including trade ban

The diplomats’ letter states: ‘Nothing justifies Israel’s systematic policy of destruction of Gaza and its population.’

Photograph: Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

 Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

Sat 22 Aug 2026 05.00 EDT

More than 100 French and British former diplomats have said Palestine is being erased in front of the world’s eyes and called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state.

An unprecedented joint letter dispenses with diplomatic language by accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and warning that the world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy.

Arguing that Britain and France played a key role in the formation of the modern-day Middle East and noting that both countries took the step of recognising Palestine as a state in 2025, the diplomats contend that their countries now have a responsibility “to make common cause on the region’s fundamental fault line – equal rights for Israeli and Palestinians”.

The letter, addressed to the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the British prime minister, Andy Burnham, has been signed by 52 French former diplomats and 50 British former ambassadors, many of whom served in the Middle East, in senior posts in Egypt, Iran, Bahrain, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The list of... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/22/uk-france-diplomats-israel-palestine

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Amid the systematic killing of Palestinian and Lebanese journalists, one organisation has been quietly bringing British media workers to Israel.

Journalist Amal Khalil reporting in Lebanon last month (Photo: Mohammed Zaatari/Alamy)

Lobby group taking journalists on propaganda tours of Israel

JOHN McEVOY
23 April 2026

On Wednesday, journalist Amal Khalil and photographer Zeinab Faraj were reporting from southern Lebanon when an Israeli airstrike reportedly hit a car in front of them. 

The two journalists, working for the Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar, were then targeted as they sought shelter in a nearby home. Khalil was killed and Faraj was seriously injured.

Khalil is one of over 259 Palestinian and Lebanese journalists to be killed by Israel since 2023, with the IDF responsible for two-thirds of all journalist killings globally in 2025.

While systematically killing Palestinian journalists, the Israeli government blocked entry of foreign media workers to Gaza, in an effort to create a blackout of its genocidal campaign.

At the same time, an influential lobby group named ELNET has been quietly taking UK journalists on propaganda tours of Israel, Declassified can reveal.

ELNET was created in 2007 to “counter the widespread criticism of Israel in Europe”, and is increasingly seen as the AIPAC of Europe.

The journalists who participated in ELNET delegations to Israel have written for some of Britain’s largest news organisations including the Telegraph, Spectator, and Mail on Sunday.

ELNET has also taken former British military officers to Israel, with many of them returning to Britain and putting a positive spin on the IDF’s operations in Gaza.

Des Freedman, professor of media and communications at Goldsmiths, told Declassified: “Journalists can try to claim that these are fact-finding visits but, in reality, they are junkets specifically deigned to generate pro-Israel coverage.

“Embedded journalism like this is dodgy in peacetime but utterly scandalous during a genocide when the rest of the world’s media have been locked out of Gaza. 

“At the very least, just as the UK competition regulator insists that paid-for content must be ‘clearly labelled’, the same should apply to news stories that are made possible by well-funded supporters of the Israeli regime”.

ELNET...    

READ MORE   https://www.declassifieduk.org/lobby-group-taking-journalists-on-propaganda-tours-of-israel/

Those who championed free speech in the UK and US now wage war on it. And here’s why: Palestine ...."How can any of this be justified in a democracy? No foreign government should be granted immunity from criticism. Not China. Not Saudi Arabia. Not Israel. And yet the self-proclaimed Jewish state occupies a uniquely and weirdly protected place in our political discourse. Criticism that would be considered routine in any other context – don’t bomb hospitals! Don’t kill kids! – is cynically rebranded as anti-Jewish bigotry."

Supporters of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil chain themselves to a fence at Columbia University, New York, 2 April 2025. Photograph: Kyle Mazza/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock

It was once an article of faith that even those who speak words we disagree with deserve protection. As regards Palestine, that’s now not true

 Mehdi Hasan

Mon 8 Jun 2026

Remember the Satanic Verses controversy? Remember “Je suis Charlie”? Remember the constant invocations of Voltaire and Orwell? The great irony of our age is that many of the cadre of politicians who spent years anointing themselves as champions of free speech have become its most enthusiastic enemies when the subject turns to one issue: Palestine.

For decades, western governments lectured the world about liberal values. They declared freedom of expression the hallmark of a liberal democratic society. Protest was deemed patriotic while the right to offend was considered sacred. Then came Gaza. Suddenly, the principles that we were once told were non-negotiable became highly negotiable indeed...

.... The actions are opaque, the message unmistakable: there are political causes the British establishment welcomes but also political causes it very much fears.

This isn’t even about Uygur or Piker’s views. Whether one agrees with everything either man has ever said is irrelevant. Piker, for example, referred to some Orthodox Jews as “inbred” and once said the US “deserved” 9/11, both offensive comments for which he has since expressed regret. Defending free speech is most crucial when that speech is controversial. You cannot show your support for free expression only by defending opinions you already share.

In the US, where I now live and vote, the situation is even more alarming.

The Trump administration’s targeting of pro-Palestinian voices and, in particular, foreign students should be seen as one of the most severe assaults on free expression in modern American history... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jun/08/uk-us-champion-free-speech-war-palestine

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Britain and the Nakba: A history of betrayal- An unbroken thread of duplicity, mendacity and chicanery connects British foreign policy from Balfour to the Nakba to the present day

A demonstrator holding an umbrella with colours of the Palestinian flag stands by an Israeli flag during a protest against a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 24 March 2023 (Reuters)

Avi Shlaim

10 May 2023

Britain created the conditions that made the Palestinian Nakba possible.

In 1948, the Palestinians experienced a collective catastrophe of monumental proportions: some 530 villages were destroyed; more than 62,000 homes were demolished; about 13,000 Palestinians were killed; and 750,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of the Arab population of the country were driven out of their homes and became refugees.

This was the climax of the Zionist ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

In its essence, Zionism had always been a settler-colonial movement. Its ultimate aim was to build an independent Jewish state in Palestine on as much of the land as possible and with as few Arabs within its borders as possible. Zionist spokesmen constantly reiterated that they meant no harm to the Arab inhabitants of the country, that they wanted to develop the country for the benefit of both communities.

But this was largely rhetoric, kalam fadi in Arabic, empty talk.... READ MORE  https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/nakba-britain-history-betrayal 

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Merry Christmas from Palestine- a message from Ambassador Dr. Husam Zomlot -Christmas 2025

 Palestine in the UK

@Palestine_in_UK

 

A #Christmas2025 message from H.E. Ambassador @hzomlot: 

 

This Christmas, people across the United Kingdom will gather with loved ones to mark a season of reflection, generosity, and hope. 

 

In the birthplace of Jesus, #Palestine, our people will also be celebrating Christmas despite all that they have endured and continue to endure. 

 

For Palestinians, Christmas has a special significance. It is part of our living heritage, of which we are all proud—a long history of coexistence and tolerance. 

 

This year, the Palestinian Christian community in Bethlehem will officially celebrate Christmas for the first time in two years, lighting a giant tree in front of the Holy Church of the Nativity. 

 

The message of Christmas resonates powerfully with all Palestinians—love, hope, joy, compassion, and peace. Especially in today’s world, we should remember that these are not just abstract ideals—they are moral obligations. 

 

As many of us celebrate warmth and togetherness, families in Gaza are enduring a harsh winter under siege, without adequate shelter, food, or heating. 

 

In East Jerusalem and the West Bank, our people face an uncertain future, violence, and expulsion from their homes and land. 

 

Your compassion, your love, your courage, and your refusal to look away have given us strength. 

 

Your voices calling out injustice have given us hope. 

 

For Palestinians, hope itself has become an act of courage—an insistence that even in the darkest moments, our humanity cannot be erased. 

 

Christmas is often described as a time of hope. 

 

This Christmas, let us hope that the coming year will bring us closer to a just and lasting peace.

 https://x.com/Palestine_in_UK/status/2003468116903264291

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The UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territory says the cost of rebuilding Gaza should be paid not only by Israel, but also by the US, Germany, Italy and the UK, as they are the main arms suppliers to Israel.

Albanese stresses the need for the international community to activate accountability mechanisms without delay [File photo: Pierre Albouy/Reuters]

UN’s Albanese says Israel and backers should pay for rebuilding Gaza

The UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territory says the cost of rebuilding Gaza should be paid not only by Israel, but also by the US, Germany, Italy and the UK, as they are the main arms suppliers to Israel.

Speaking at an event organised by the London-based think tank ODI Global, Albanese said the support the UK provides to Israel through its military bases in Cyprus should be investigated for its connection to the attacks in Gaza, stressing the need for a comprehensive probe into “the UK’s complicity in the genocide”.

She said many of Israel’s practices were inherited from the UK’s colonial presence in Palestine, adding that administrative detention and torture systems are a reflection of the practices the UK employed with Palestinians.

Albanese also talked about the US sanctions against her, saying that they seriously affect her personal and professional life. She said that under the US legal system, she was treated like a criminal and cannot travel to the US.

https://aje.io/ogexhj?update=4169605 

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Meet Arwa Elrayess—the first Palestinian elected president of the Oxford Union in its 202-year history.

Husam Zomlot & Arwa Elrayess

Husam Zomlot

Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the UK. Former Ambassdor to the United States. 

@hzomlot

 

Meet Arwa Elrayess—the first Palestinian elected president of the Oxford Union in its 202-year history. 

 

I’ve known Arwa and her family since she was a teenager. 

 

She is from #Gaza, and now she’s making history at #Oxford, championing open debate on human rights, justice, and equality. 

 

Despite silencing campaigns against her, her election shows the power of young Palestinian talent and a growing global movement for justice. 

 

From Zohran Mamdani in New York to Arwa Elrayess at Oxford—it’s the same movement, the same demand. And it is unstoppable. 

 

 #ArwaElrayess #OxfordUnion #Palestine #FreePalestine #Justice #StudentMovement #PalestinianVoices.

 https://x.com/hzomlot/status/1997694456691122591

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