Israel/Palestine: Equal Rights
The centenary of the Balfour Declaration is the time to reconcile peace with justice for both Israelis and Palestinians, consistent with the principle Britain claims as her own: equal rights for all under the law.
Through the Declaration of 2 November 1917 the British Government decided to facilitate “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”, on the explicit understanding that “nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”.
In 1917, and until Britain gave up her Mandate for Palestine in 1948, the Palestinian people were in the majority, as they had been for centuries. The Mandate conferred on Britain a “sacred trust of civilisation” to help the people of Palestine towards self-determination and nationhood. In 1948 the Government handed the problem to the United Nations, and withdrew – but the legacy of that period is still with us. There was joy and sanctuary in Israel for the Jewish people surviving the horrific Holocaust – but pain and despair for the Palestinians: many expelled in 1948, and more occupied in 1967.
Israel, created in 1948 as the permanent national home of the Jewish people, is recognised as a state by Britain, the EU, the US and – crucially – the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Israel’s prosperity and military strength have grown. But Israel’s 50 year military occupation of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem prevents the Palestinian people from exercising their own equal and inalienable right to self-determination, a right endorsed by the UN, the EU and our Government.
This occupation dehumanises both the occupier and the occupied. One people is repressing their neighbouring people, by closing Gaza militarily and transferring 600,000 Israeli settlers illegally into occupied Palestinian territory. Change is urgently needed, delivering equal rights for both peoples.
We condemn violence from any quarter. But conducting and resisting occupation inevitably mean chronic and sustained violence, stemming from the repression of a people. Inequality does not bring lasting security and prosperity.
In the best interests of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, and in our own national interest, we urge our Government to
- recognise immediately the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel on the basis of the pre-June 1967 borders, as two thirds of UN members have done;
- uphold rigorously the Geneva Conventions which Britain co-wrote and ratified after World War ll;
- give practical effect to the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap which Britain has endorsed;
- require genuine freedom of worship without hindrance for all believers – Jewish, Muslim and Christian – at their holy sites in Jerusalem;
- encourage West Bank/Gaza reunification on the basis of PLO agreements;
- work with like-minded partners, including France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Ireland, to respect and safeguard the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis, with due and proportionate consequences for breaches of those rights, alongside incentives for those seeking to uphold them.
Ending the 1967 occupation through negotiation will realise the acknowledged right of the Palestinian people to self-determination; a right gained by Israel 70 years ago. The political and economic cost/benefit calculations of those who oppose this outcome must be challenged. Establishing the Palestinian state, with sustainable international security guarantees both for it and for Israel, will help to stabilise the Middle East region and enhance our own security. The opposite is also true. This inequality supplies oxygen to the propagandists of Islamic State, and contributes to radicalisation both abroad and at home.
We commit ourselves to work for a secure future of equal rights and peaceful coexistence between the citizens of Israel and Palestine in two states along pre-June 1967 lines. We support the majorities on both sides of that border who see this outcome as just.
Britain should uphold her core values by taking the lead to address this bitter, harmful conflict. The Government of the day took a decision in 1917. We now need to acknowledge what is right, and exert political influence to achieve it – for our own good, and the good of the two peoples who will share the Holy Land forever.
Signatories
Rt Hon Jack Straw
Crispin Blunt MP
Tracy Brabin MP
Rt Hon Ben Bradshaw MP
Rt Hon Tom Brake MP
Alan Brown MP
Richard Burden MP
Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable MP
Ruth Cadbury MP
Rt Hon Alistair Carmichael MP
Sarah Champion MP
Joanna Cherry QC, MP
Rt Hon Sir Ed Davey MP
Julie Elliott MP
Chris Elmore MP
Ruth George MP
Rt Hon Dominic Grieve MP
Wera Hobhouse MP
Christine Jardine MP
Rt Hon David Jones MP
Graham Jones MP
Ben Lake MP
Pauline Latham MP
Chris Law MP
Sir Edward Leigh MP
Stephen Lloyd MP
Tony Lloyd MP
Caroline Lucas MP
Seema Malhotra MP
Layla Moran MP
Grahame Morris MP
Ian Murray MP
Lisa Nandy MP
Chi Onwurah MP
Rt Hon Sir Mike Penning MP
Tommy Sheppard MP
Paula Sherriff MP
Andy Slaughter MP
Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames MP
Bob Stewart MP
Rt Hon Sir Desmond Swayne MP
Jo Swinson MP
Rt Hon Sir Hugo Swire MP
David Warburton MP
Dr Philippa Whitford MP
Rt Rev Christopher Chessun – Bishop of Southwark
Rt Rev Declan Lang – Bishop of Clifton
Rt Rev William Nolan – Bishop of Galloway
Lord Alderdice
Baroness Blackstone
Rt Hon Lord Bruce of Bennachie
Rt Hon Lord Cope of Berkeley
Lord Greaves of Pendle
Lord Green of Deddington
Lord Griffiths of Burry Port
Rt Hon Lord Grocott of Telford
Rt Hon Lord Hain
Lord Hannay of Chiswick
Rt Hon Baroness Hilton of Eggardon
Lord Hollick
Baroness Hollins
Lord Hussain
Rt Hon Baroness Hussein-Ece
Lord Hylton
Baroness Jay of Paddington
Rt Hon Baroness Jolly
Lord Judd
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws
Rt Hon Lord Lee of Trafford
Rt Hon Marquess of Lothian
Baroness Meacher
Duke of Montrose
Baroness Morris of Bolton
Rt Hon Baroness Northover
Lord Ouseley of Peckham Rye
Lord Purvis of Tweed
General Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, former Chief of Defence Staff
Baroness Sheehan
Rt Hon Lord Steel of Aikwood
Rt Hon Lord Warner
Rt Hon Baroness Warsi
Lord Wood of Anfield
Lord Wright of Richmond
Claudia Beamish, Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP)
Ivan McKee MSP
Pauline McNeill MSP
Sandra White MSP
Llyr Gruffydd, Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM)
Bethan Jenkins AM
Simon Thomas AM
Prof. James Allan – Emeritus Professor of Eastern Art, University of Oxford
Merrick Baker-Bates – Consul-General, Los Angeles (ret’d)
Sir Roger Bannister FRCP – former Master, Pembroke College, Oxford
John Beavis FRCS – Trauma and orthopaedic surgeon (ret’d)
Sir Tony Brenton – Ambassador to Russia (ret’d)
John Black FRCS – former President, Royal College of Surgeons
Robert Brinkley – Ambassador to Ukraine and High Commissioner to Pakistan (ret’d)
Sir Henry Brooke – Emeritus President, the Slynn Foundation
Anthony Cary – Ambassador to Sweden and High Commissioner to Canada (ret’d)
Sir Iain Chalmers M.D. DSc – Coordinator, James Lind Foundation
Alan Charlton – Ambassador to Brazil (ret’d)
Kenneth Citron MD, FRCP – Consultant physician (ret’d)
Sir Edward Clay – High Commissioner to Kenya, Cyprus and Uganda (ret’d)
Rev. Iain Cunningham – Convenor, World Mission Council, Church of Scotland
Lady Ellen Dahrendorf
Sir Richard Dalton – Ambassador to Iran and Consul-General, Jerusalem (ret’d)
Rt Rev Michael Doe, Assistant Bishop of Southwark
Lady English – former Principal, St Hilda’s College, Oxford
Sir Terence English – Surgeon and former Master, St Catherine’s College, Cambridge
Sir Vincent Fean – Consul-General, Jerusalem and Ambassador to Libya (ret’d)
Alistair Fitt – Vice-Chancellor, Oxford Brookes University
Rev. Dr Richard Frazer – Convenor, Church and Society Council, Church of Scotland
Pat Gaffney – General Secretary, Pax Christi
Prof. Fawaz A Gerges – International Relations, LSE
Sir Jeremy Greenstock – Ambassador to the United Nations (ret’d)
Henry Hogger – Ambassador to Syria (ret’d)
Michael Hone – Ambassador to Iceland (ret’d)
June Jacobs – former President, International Council of Jewish Women
Dr Imad Karam – Executive Director, Initiatives of Change International
Robin Kealy – Ambassador to Tunisia and Consul-General, Jerusalem (ret’d)
Stuart Laing – Master, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Robin Lamb – Ambassador to Bahrain and Consul-General, Basra (ret’d)
Rt Hon Sir David Latham, former Lord Justice of Appeal
Anthony Layden – Ambassador to Morocco, Mauritania and Libya (ret’d)
Norman Ling – Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union (ret’d)
Richard Lyne – High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands (ret’d)
Richard Makepeace – Consul-General, Jerusalem and Ambassador to UAE and to Sudan (ret’d)
Sir Christopher Mallaby – Ambassador to France and Germany (ret’d)
Peter Millett – Ambassador to Jordan and Libya (ret’d)
Sir Alan Munro – former Deputy Under-Secretary of State for Middle East, FCO
Patrick Nixon – Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and HC to Zambia (ret’d)
Peter Oborne – author and journalist
Sir William Patey – Ambassador to Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia (ret’d)
Lesley Riddoch – journalist, writer and broadcaster
Rev Chris Rose – Director, Amos Trust
Frank Savage – Governor of Montserrat, then of the British Virgin Islands (ret’d)
Rt Hon Sir Stephen Sedley – Visiting Professor, Faculty of Law, Oxford
Prof. Raymond Tallis FRCP – Physician and writer
Sir Roger Tomkys – High Commissioner, Nairobi and Ambassador to Syria and Bahrain (ret’d)
Sir Harold Walker – Ambassador to Iraq (ret’d)
Sir Peter Westmacott – Ambassador to the United States (ret’d)