UK politicians, ‘mainstream’ media ignore Israel’s announcement of West Bank annexation

Israel intends to “permanently acquire, colonize, and annex the entirety of the occupied West Bank, at the expense of Palestinian sovereignty”. Not a peep from UK msm

Israel’s racist regime has announced its intention to fully and permanently annex the occupied West Bank, expelling Palestinians, demolishing their homes, villages, schools and hospitals. In a typical statement, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz and self-described fascist Bezalel Smotrich made themselves – and the extremist illegal settlers they support – the ‘victims’ of a ‘scourge’ of supposed ‘rampant illegal Arab construction’, which really means Palestinians trying to build on land that is legally theirs, to justify the colonial plan:

Since 1967 until today, no such revolution has taken place in Judea and Samaria.

I am now concluding an important tour of Judea and Samaria [the supremacist terms for the West Bank] with my friends [sic], Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, in which we closely followed the uncompromising struggle against illegal Arab construction and settlement development.

During the tour, we visited many areas in Judea and Samaria, including the communities of Kerem Reim and Sde Ephraim, which were recently recognized by the government.

The Israeli government is working to develop settlements in Judea and Samaria and will not allow the rampant illegal Arab construction that has become a scourge of the state in recent decades.

Our government has recognized 28 new settlements since its establishment. In addition, there is increased enforcement in places that were not previously enforced, such as the 918 Fire Area Agreement Reserve and other areas.

In the past year, the record for the demolition of illegal Arab construction in Judea and Samaria was broken, but at the same time, we understand that in order to win this campaign, additional strategic tools must be used that will lead to the desired revolution.

The settlers are not second-class citizens. The government will insist that they be entitled to security like all Israeli citizens.

Judea and Samaria, the cradle of our homeland, the land of the Bible. We are here to stay.

United Nations human rights expert Francesca Albanese condemned the ‘alarming’ plan as an ‘egregious violation of international law’:

Jewish international law expert Itay Epshtain described the realities behind this sinister, Orwellian statement:

This egregious plan includes the wanton and extensive destruction of Palestinian homes and humanitarian and development assistance – schools, health clinics, livelihoods – provided by European Institutions and EU Member States, Norway, and the UK, under the guise of maintaining public order.

Israeli elected officials, and those who advise them, know full well that any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property “belonging individually or collectively to private persons, or to the State, or to other public authorities, or to social or cooperative organizations, is prohibited.” (Article 53, Fourth Geneva Covnetion)

The extension of protection to public property and to goods owned collectively—including humanitarian relief items—reinforces the rule already laid down in the Hague Regulations of 1907, according to which private property and the property of municipalities and institutions dedicated to religion, charity, education, the arts, and the sciences must be respected.

The International Court of Justice ruled in July 24 on the illicit connection between the destruction of property and the forcible transfer of Palestinians away from areas earmarked for settlement expansion. The Court concluded that Israel’s actions amount to acts of aggression, making its presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful.

The paradoxical effect of the Court’s groundbreaking ruling is the defiance by Israel’s co-ministers, who espouse—on behalf of the State—acts of aggression defined by UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (1974), and codified as a gross failure to abide by peremptory norms of international law.

Despite – or just as likely because of – the egregiousness of this ‘gross’ violation of international law and Palestinian human rights, the UK’s so-called ‘mainstream’ media have so far entirely ignored the announcement, with no recent results for any related headlines:

UK PM David Lammy were equally silent, despite both being trained lawyers. Lammy found time to witter about sanctions on Russia, while Starmer droned about his ‘plan for change’ – ‘change’ meaning ‘more austerity than the Tories’.

Israel’s impunity for its genocidal and settler-colonial crimes must end, but there is no sign of UK and US support, collusion and participation ending as they must. Starmer and co belong in the Hague alongside Netanyahu and his cohort.

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