Joint statement from the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and the EU on the situation in the West Bank:
Over the past few months, the situation in the West Bank has deteriorated significantly. Settler violence is at unprecedented levels. The policies and practices of the Israeli government, including a further entrenchment of Israeli control, are undermining stability and prospects for a two-state solution.
International law is clear: Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal. Construction projects in the E1 area would be no exception.
The E1 settlement development would divide the West Bank in two and mark a serious breach of international law.
Businesses should not bid for construction tenders for E1 or other settlement developments. They should be aware of legal and reputational consequences of participating in settlement construction including the risk of involving themselves in serious breaches of international law.
We call on the Government of Israel to end its expansion of settlements and administrative powers, ensure accountability for settler violence and investigate allegations against Israeli forces, respect the Hashemite custodianship over Jerusalem’s Holy Sites and the historic status quo arrangements, and lift financial restrictions on the PA and the Palestinian economy.
We strongly oppose those, including members of the Israeli government, who argue for annexation and forcible displacement of the Palestinian population.
We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on a negotiated two-state solution in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace and security within secure and recognised borders.
MORE WORDS, BUT ALL THE WHILE OUR UK GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO ARM ISRAEL AND IS COMPLICIT IN THE DEATHS OF THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIAN PEOPLE.
JUDGE THEM NOT BY WHAT THEY SAY, BUT WHAT THEY DO – Ed. …
An act of violence has been used to justify a dangerous narrative. We reject the weaponisation of fear and the targeting of communities and civil liberties.
Statement by Ambassador James Kariuki, UK Chargé d’Affaires to the UN, at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East:
The United Kingdom strongly supports the important work of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee, and we welcome the constructive discussion that recently took place in Brussels.
Colleagues, as we’ve heard today, the region faces another period of crisis. But we must not be distracted from seizing this historic opportunity to implement the 20 Point Plan for Gaza, endorsed by this Council in resolution 2803, and map a pathway to realising a two state solution.
Sir Tony’s briefing set out how we can do that.
I will make three points.
First, it is vital that all parties fulfil their commitments, respect the ceasefire, and engage constructively to implement phase two of President Trump’s 20 Point Peace Plan.
We need a stable and phased security transition. This must include the demilitarisation of Hamas and other armed groups, deployment of the International Stabilisation Force alongside a Palestinian-led police force, and the withdrawal of the IDF.
The United Kingdom has been clear that Hamas can have no future in the governance of Gaza. We urge them to engage constructively with demilitarisation talks, which, as we’ve heard, are taking place right now.
We also need the right transitional governance arrangements in place.
The National Committee for the Administration of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority must work together to deliver for the Palestinian people’s immediate needs and support early recovery and reconstruction efforts.
Second, President, the humanitarian situation in Palestine remains grave.
The World Food Programme has warned that whilst famine has not returned to Gaza, the food and nutrition situation remains deeply concerning.
The UN reports that in the first quarter of this year, aid into Gaza from the UN and its humanitarian partners declined by 37 per cent compared to the previous 3 months.
This is not meeting the targets defined in the 20 Point Plan.
And the Government of Israel’s de-registration measures for international NGOs continue to constrict the humanitarian space for critical assistance.
This is unacceptable.
The UN, including UNRWA, and other humanitarian partners, must be able to operate unimpeded, with unrestricted entry and functioning crossings.
Israel must allow much-needed medical equipment, shelter items, and fuel in to support essential and lifesaving services.
And third, we are appalled by the deteriorating trajectory in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Violence, including extremely troubling reports of sexual and gender-based violence, forced displacement, and illegal evictions, is surging.
According to OCHA, Israeli forces and settlers killed 33 Palestinians and injured 790 others in the first few months of this year alone.
And last week, two Palestinians, Jihad Abu Naim and Aws al-Naasan, were shot and killed by an Israeli settler in a school.
Aws was just 14 years old.
We deplore such egregious acts of settler violence.
The Israeli Government has rightly condemned this violence and launched an investigation.
But accountability for previous incidents has been severely lacking.
Condemnation alone is not enough; it must be translated into concrete steps to prevent attacks against Palestinians, ensure protection of civilians in line with International Law and ensure accountability where crimes have been committed.
We are also witnessing an unprecedented pace of illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank, as well as severe Israeli economic restrictions.
These must stop.
These actions undermine the 20 Point Plan and the very viability of the two state solution.
Mr President, we stand at a historic juncture. We urge the parties to show courage, engage in good faith on the peace plan, and seize this opportunity for the benefit of Palestinians, Israelis, and the whole region.
NOTE: Despite these latest words and months of hand-wringing, the slaughter continues unchecked and the UK continues to supply weapons support to Israel.
More than 100 pro-Palestine activists staged a blockade outside Leonardo, an arms factory with links to Israel, at Crewe Toll yesterday – Ed.
SCOTTISH Palestine Solidarity Campaign@scottish_psc has launched a new Scotland-wide interactive map spotlighting 120+ Apartheid Free Zones, including @govanhillapartheidfreezone.
Cafés, shops, unions, musicians, community groups and organisations standing in solidarity with Palestine.
These spaces have pledged to support the BDS movement, boycott companies complicit in Israeli apartheid, and build anti-racist, ethical communities rooted in justice.
From local workplaces to cultural hubs, AFZs show that while governments stall, people are taking action. An act of solidarity forming a powerful, growing network of hope and resistance across Scotland.
Explore the map: www.apartheidfree.scot� Not listed yet? Businesses and organisations are invited to join and help grow the movement.
The Jewish Council of Scotland response to Apartheid Free Zones in Scotland campaign
The Jewish Council of Scotland (JCoS) is alarmed at the announcement reported in yesterday’s media of the Apartheid Free Zones in Scotland campaign – launched by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which aims to achieve a boycott of Israel across Scotland in support of the Boycott, Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement.
The strident hatred and intimidation associated with this movement has a profound effect on Jews living in Scotland, and with ever increasing incidents of antisemitic behaviour towards the Jewish population this activity is of significant concern to us.
JCoS believes the impact of this campaign will build on the fear created by the so-called Leith ‘Zionist Free Zone’ in Edinburgh, which many Jews in Leith regarded as targeting them, regardless of their personal views on Israel.
“Our concern is that Jewish people in Scotland will be branded as racist”, says Timothy Lovat, Chair of JCoS. “This campaign does nothing to attack racism and promote racial equality in Scotland.”
From JEWISH COUNCIL OF SCOTLAND and GLASGOW JEWISH REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL
“Glasgow Jewish Representative Council and the Jewish Council of Scotland welcome yesterday’s Glasgow Sheriff Court verdict finding Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign founder member Mick Napier guilty of a racially aggravated breach of Section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010.
“As reported in the media, we understand that Mr Napier was found guilty of having behaved in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause a reasonable person to suffer fear or alarm, aggravated by prejudice related to religion, or a social or cultural group with a perceived religious affiliation, in this case directed towards Sammy Stein – a Jewish person.
“There must be no place for antisemitism – in any guise – in Scotland.”
Henry Lovat President, Glasgow Jewish Representative Council
Timothy Lovat Chair, Jewish Council of Scotland
Israeli genocide cheerleaders secure conviction against lifelong anti-racist and Palestine solidarity organiser
STATEMENT from SCOTTISH PALESTINE SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN
Palestinian protest Edinburgh 17th oct’ 2015
In Glasgow’s Sheriff Court today (Tuesday 23 December), Sheriff John McCormick handed down a shocking verdict, finding SPSC founding member Mick Napier guilty of racism for verbally calling out the leader of Glasgow Friends of Israel.
The same sheriff jailed five activists last August for trying to interdict the supply of arms from Thales in Govan to the genocidal Israeli military.
The pro-Israel group whose leader made the complaint of racism on which the police, prosecutors and sheriff acted,
described Palestinians murdered by Israel as “euthanised”
welcomed the 2019 mass murder of 51 Muslims in New Zealand as “payback for what they have done around the world”
discussed how a Muslim lawyer, who supported Palestine, “should be strangled with her own scarf”
called two anti-Zionist rabbis “disgusting Jews”
The complainer, Sammy Stein, joined a recent anti-asylum seeker, pro-genocide demonstration organised by Tommy Robinson supporters in Glasgow and worked with a well-known fascist, antisemite and holocaust denier to harass Palestine supporters.
An appeal against conviction and the £600 fine has been lodged.
SPSC will continue our work to expose Glasgow Friends of Israel, including Sammy Stein, as the genocide deniers and cheerleaders that they are. They work in collaboration with Israeli government officials to target SPSC, our members and partners, because the international Palestine solidarity movement to boycott and isolate Israel is growing and making an impact.
It is critical that we continue to organise and build the movement in Scotland – if you are not already an SPSC member, you can join here.
The last 20 living hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are now back in Israel after spending more than two years in captivity.
The hostages were kidnapped by Hamas during the 7 October2023 attacks
Hamas says it will also hand over the remains of four dead hostages later today, but has told mediators it does not know the location of some of the other 24.
Israel has released almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners as part of President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the release of hostages in Gaza.
Starmer, who has travelled to the middle east, said: “I share the deep feeling of relief as hostages are released today.
“It is now crucial that we work together to implement President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.”
First Minister John Swinney has said unity must prevail to ensure long-lasting peace is secured in the Middle East.
His words come as the world prepares to remember all those who lost their lives during the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel, and those who have died in the violence that has followed.
Reflecting on the two-year anniversary, Mr Swinney said this year will be even more distressing for Scotland’s Jewish communities following the attacks at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester.
First Minister John Swinney said: “As we mark the second anniversary of the heinous attacks, we must always remember that 7 October resulted in the worst single loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust.
“Our Jewish communities remain extremely traumatised by these attacks – and the events that have followed – and I know that this year will be even more emotionally distressing after the horrific attack carried out at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester.
“It was an attack made all the more cruel for being perpetrated on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, and my thoughts remain with the victims and their families, and with Jewish communities across the United Kingdom.
“As we mourn all those who have lost their lives since 7 October, we must stand united in defiance of violent division. We must respond to the devastating conflict occurring across the Middle East by showing that long lasting peace is the only solution.
“We must see an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages. It is the only way to stop death and displacement, violence and fear, unrest and division. Israelis and Palestinians must be allowed to live safely side by side, with long-lasting peace, prosperity, and security.
“Events in the Middle East cannot ever justify antisemitism, prejudice or any acts of violence. All of Scotland’s communities must feel safe and protected.
“Scotland’s diversity and our inclusive outlook is one of our greatest strengths. All of our communities are equally integral, valued and permanent parts of our national life – their members are our friends, our neighbours, our colleagues.
“In remembering all those who lost their lives on 7 October and since, we do so in equal condemnation of all forms of terror and violence.”
Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, spoke at a vigil for the victims of the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Crumpsall:
Friends, we must stand together today.
We must stand in grief, in solidarity and in defiance.
Grief – for the innocent lives that were taken so cruelly.
Senseless murders carried out on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year.
Grief that causes so much pain, so much suffering.
Today our hearts, our thoughts, our prayers must be with the families of those who were killed.
And of course with this Jewish community, both here in Manchester at the Heaton Park Synagogue and right across our nation.
And as the Member of Parliament for Tottenham, I know that suffering in Crumpsall is the same as the pain and the worry on the frightened faces in my own constituency, in Stamford Hill.
In that sense the London and Manchester communities are twin communities, grieving as one.
And, us, the whole nation – with them.
That’s why we stand in solidarity – with the Jewish people.
Because an attack like this is never felt alone.
Wherever they are in our country, Jewish people, our friends, our neighbours, our loved ones, are terrified by the events of yesterday.
Of becoming targets, victims of antisemitic hate, simply for who they are.
But I know this about Britain’s Jewish community:
A community I have known all of my life.
You are strong, you are resilient, you will never be cowed.
And I want you to know today, that your country, those of all colours, all faiths and none, stand with you.
We stand with you against terrorism.
We stand with you against those who think bombs and blasts will break us.
And we stand against all those who would minimise, coddle or obfuscate on anti-Jewish hate.
We know terrorism in this country. We know it in this city, we saw it at the Arena.
And now we have seen it in Heaton Park.
We all know terrorism. We all feel terrorism. I lost my childhood best friend, James Adams who was blown to smithereens on the 7/7 bombings.
And I vow to you, every Christian, Muslim, Jew, every Mancunian, every Brit, we will never stop fighting it.
That’s why we stand in defiance of those terrorists who seek to divide us.
Who want to pit neighbour against neighbour, to weaken the bonds that bind us together.
As one nation, one people, one United Kingdom, we cannot, we must not let them divide us.
On days like today, we must show who we really are, not what they want us to believe.
But Britain’s true nature: A tolerant nation, built on mutual respect, common understanding, where people live not in fear, but in freedom.
That is who we are, that is who we will always be and it cannot be eroded by violence.
It cannot be erased by vile acts such as those carried out here yesterday.
I want to close with this thought: When I have lost loved ones in the past, Jewish friends have often used a phrase to comfort me: ‘May their memory be a blessing.’
Nothing will ever take away the pain of what happened here.
But how we respond now, how we stand together, yes, in grief and in solidarity, but also in defiance and a shared mission: Against terror, in the name of us all.
That response honours those we have lost.
May their memory be a blessing.
Not just to their families, not just to the Jewish community, but to our entire nation.
Always.
And for those that are considering marching over the weekend:
I ask them to reflect with all human dignity, grace and understanding, to stop and to stand back.
Statement by The Rt Hon Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, at the High-Level International Conference for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution:
Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Your Excellencies, President Macron and Prince Faisal.I stand before you today, beneath the emblem of the United Nations, to confirm the historic decision of the British government to recognise the State of Palestine.
This step, alongside friends and partners, reflects a longstanding truth.
That statehood is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people and that two states is the only path to security and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
But it also reflects a grave reality.
The two-state solution that for decades has commanded global support is in profound peril.
From continued bloodshed, man-made famine, terrorism and hostage taking, settlement expansion and settler violence.
And Hamas terrorists continue to hold hostages seized in the barbaric attack of October 7th, prolonging the unimaginable anguish of their families.
And in Gaza, the unbearable humanitarian catastrophe worsens as the Netanyahu government chooses to escalate war and hold back aid.
Children dying of starvation while food rots at the border.
And settlement expansion threatens the very viability of a Palestinian state.
The two-state solution risks disappearing beneath the rubble.
That is what extremists on all sides want.
But we refuse to let hope be lost.
Recognition is borne of urgency and principle.
Alongside our unwavering support for the security of Israel and its people.
This pathway is the opposite of Hamas’s hateful vision.
And this process around recognition has helped cement the rejection of Hamas across the Arab world.
Alongside new reforms to the Palestinian Authority.
Because there can be no role for Hamas in the future governance of Palestine.
But recognition must be a spur, not a substitute for urgent action.
A ceasefire now, the release of all hostages, the restoration of aid and a lasting framework for peace.
Recognition is about the future, but it is rooted in our past.
75 years ago, Britain was rightly proud to recognise the State of Israel.
But the promise of upholding Palestinian rights has gone unfulfilled.
For decades, my country supported a two-state solution but only recognised one state.
That changes now.
As we join more than 150 Member States in recognising the State of Palestine and protecting the pathway to peace.
First Minister calls for more sanctions and an end to arms sales
Formal recognition of the state of Palestine must be accompanied by sanctions on Israeli security cabinet members, a ban on the trade in goods from illegal settlements, and the suspension of the UK–Israel trade deal, First Minister John Swinney said yesterday as he attended a ceremony at the Palestinian Mission in London.
The event to mark the historic step towards keeping the two-state solution alive follows the UK Government’s announcement of formal recognition of Palestine.
The First Minister pressed the UK Government for stronger action to end the conflict and protect civilian lives, and urged the UK to join South Africa’s International Court of Justice case and implementing International Criminal Court arrest warrants.
The decision to recognise Palestinian statehood brings the UK into line with the vast majority of countries at the United Nations, over 75% of whom now recognise the State of Palestine. The First Minister said it marks the first step towards establishing a viable two state-solution where both states can live in peace, prosperity and securely.
The ceremony follows the arrival of Gazan children and their families into Scotland for NHS treatment and comes as Scotland prepares to welcome the first students from Gaza to study at Scottish universities.
First Minister John Swinney said: “This is a historic moment for the people of Palestine which should have come long ago.
“I have been clear that the UK’s recognition of the State of Palestine should have been unconditional, but this decision goes some way towards acknowledging the UK’s solemn and historic responsibility towards all peoples of the region.
“While this announcement is welcome news, this is just the first step towards establishing the two-state solution. I urge the UK Government to take further action to accelerate peace including continuing to call for an immediate ceasefire and the resumption of free flowing aid.
“The international community must use all its energy to persuade and pressurise Israel to end the violence and return to a peace process. A two-state solution is the only option that can provide peace, prosperity and security for both the State of Palestine and the State of Israel.
“Hamas must play no role in the future of the Palestinian state. I have consistently and unequivocally condemned the brutal terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas in October 2023 and I join the international community in demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
“Scotland stands with the people of Palestine, and everyone in the region who yearns for peace, and I will continue to do all that I can to support those suffering in Gaza and the West Bank.”
SCOTTISH NATIONAL DEMO
EDINBURGH
Sat 18th April
1pm
Launched: Scotland’s Apartheid Free Zones Map 
Explore the map: 
Not listed yet? Businesses and organisations are invited to join and help grow the movement.
