Latest news with #BritishPalestinians
The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Hamas chief Mohammed Sinwar killed in Gaza, says Israel
Mohammed Sinwar, Hamas's Gaza chief, was the younger brother of the militant group's former leader Yahya Sinwar, one of the masterminds behind the October 7 2023 attack who was killed by Israeli troops last year. READ MORE: 'Unacceptable': British Palestinians call out David Lammy over UK-Israel trade visit Speaking to the Israeli parliament on Wednesday, Netanyahu said Mohammed had been "eliminated" alongside a number of other Hamas leaders killed by Israeli strikes. It comes after one person was killed and another 48 were injured when Israeli forces opened fire on crowds of Palestinians over-running an aid distribution site in southern Gaza on Tuesday, according to Gaza's health ministry. Earlier, UN official Ajith Sunghay had said that 47 Palestinians were injured, mostly by gunfire, at a new aid distribution hub set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation outside Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah. More to follow...
The National
6 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Gaza Tribunal: Complicity in Israel's genocide 'asserted, not hidden'
Richard Falk, an American Jewish professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University who previously served as the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, is leading the public scrutiny of Israel's actions in Gaza in the form of a tribunal. Though it has no legal force, the tribunal – which has its first public hearing taking place in Sarajevo this week – aims to document alleged war crimes, advocate for justice for Palestinians, and address shortcomings of the international legal system, its organisers said. READ MORE: 'Unacceptable': British Palestinians call out David Lammy over UK-Israel trade visit The Gaza Tribunal was officially launched in London last November and is set to conclude with a final hearing in Istanbul in October 2025, at which the tribunal's conclusions and decisions will be published. Over four days, the tribunal's Sarajevo hearing is aiming to 'close the gap in the enforcement of law' with examinations of the Nakba and colonialism, apartheid, forced population displacements, the political economy of genocide, the criminalisation of protest, and a look at the media's role in Israel's occupation of Palestinian land. The Gaza Tribunal is looking to follow on from Nobel prize winner Bertrand Russell's 1966 people's tribunal, which ultimately concluded that the US had perpetrated genocidal acts in Vietnam. Richard Falk speaking remotely to the Gaza Tribunal (Image: Gaza Tribunal) Falk, who is leading the tribunal, said: 'Liberal democracies demonized China over Uyghurs but remain complicit in Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza. One standard for adversaries, another for allies – this undermines law and morality. 'Governments enable Gaza genocide through weapons, financial support, diplomatic cover, disseminating Israeli propaganda. This complicity is asserted rather than hidden." Falk's words echo those of Justice Robert Jackson, the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, who said: 'If certain acts and violations of treaties are crimes, they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them.' Jackson's words were cited by Russell in the establishment of the 1966 tribunal on the US and Vietnam. At the Gaza Tribunal, the Byline Times reported on evidence given by Dr Thaer Ahmad, a Palestinian-American doctor who worked in Nasser in Gaza City in 2024. READ MORE: Tommy Sheppard: End the pretence that Israel is a normal country 'It appeared that the city, block by block, was being levelled from east to west and we would watch from the hospital as giant balls of smoke would fill the sky and then 10 or 15 minutes later, we would get an influx of the mass casualty event,' Dr Ahmad said. He added: 'This was happening multiple times a day … There is no hospital in the United States, no hospital in Chicago, that would have been able to function had they seen the same volume that was being seen at Nasser hospital.' Craig Mokhiber, the former director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights who stepped down in October 2023 accusing the UN of failing to act on a 'textbook genocide', also spoke at the tribunal. "What can we say of an international system that speaks of human rights but allows a live-stream genocide to rage day after day, year after year?' he said. 'A system that refuses to even name the crime out loud: genocide. 'The word genocide is only permitted in reference to history – not for genocides happening today, certainly not for Palestine. UN offices have non-critically endorsed Israeli propaganda under Western pressure.' READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn secures date to table Gaza inquiry bill in Commons The Worldwide Lawyers Association (Wolas), a Turkish-based rights group, said: "This tribunal is not merely a response to enforcement vacuum left by states and international institutions. It is a peoples' legal, ethical and political initiative exposing the deeper structures behind the failure: an international system where power dynamics consistently override law, and where geopolitics shields atrocity. "Over four days in Sarajevo, lawyers, scholars, survivors, and organisers come together to present evidence, offer expert testimony, and challenge both the violence in Gaza and the global order that sustains it." In the UK, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has spear-headed calls for a public inquiry to examine the Government's role in Gaza. You can find more details of the Gaza Tribunal on Richard Falk's website.
The National
6 days ago
- Business
- The National
British Palestinians call out David Lammy over UK-Israel trade visit
On Monday, Lord Ian Austin – the UK Government's trade envoy to Israel – was pictured in Haifa in northern Israel, where he said the Government would continue to encourage "British businesses to export to Israel and Israeli businesses to invest in the UK". It comes despite the UK Government suspending negotiations with the Israeli government on a new free trade deal last week, as Lammy described Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government as "extremists". READ MORE: BBC admits error after presenting Reform UK spokesperson as member of public The National understands that Austin is set to be in Israel until Friday to "maintain" the UK Government's relationship with Israeli businesses. The visit was condemned by Independent MP and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former first minister Humza Yousaf, and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians. Meanwhile, the British Palestinian Committee, an independent organisation of British Palestinians advocating for Palestinian rights, has now written to the Foreign Secretary arguing that the visit "appears to directly contradict" the UK Government's previous condemnation of Israel. Dr Sara Husseini, director of the British Palestinian Committee, said that the "limited steps" against Israel by the UK Government "are already being undermined". Penning the letter to Lammy on Tuesday, Husseini said the UK Government was "isolat[ing] itself on the international stage" in its continued support of Israel. The full letter to the Foreign Secretary said: "One week ago, you announced the suspension of free trade agreement negotiations with Israel in light of its ongoing military assault on Gaza. "Yesterday morning, the UK Trade Envoy to Israel, Lord Ian Austin, publicly stated on X that he was in Israel to 'promote trade with the UK' meeting with Israeli businesses and officials. The British Embassy in Tel Aviv further amplified this message by publishing a photo of Lord Austin at the Haifa Port. "This visit appears to directly contradict your Government's recent announcement and suggests that business continues as usual, despite almost 600 days of Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza. Foreign Secretary David Lammy (Image: PA) "The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has now reached at least 54,000 with entire families incinerated in their homes as Israel's daily bombardments continue. "Women, men and children remain trapped under rubble or in the streets, unreachable by emergency crews. During this past weekend, harrowing footage has circulated of children burned alive during an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people, and a surgeon at work receiving the charred bodies of her nine children. "Israel continues to pursue its openly stated policy of forced displacement, now centred in Rafah, while systematically blocking supplies to force the starvation of the entire population of Gaza. The extent of this mass ethnic cleansing is on a scale not experienced by the Palestinian people since their original expulsion from their homes during the Nakba of 1947-48. "Last week's measures announced by your government are wholly inadequate in the face of this horrific reality. That even the limited measures announced last week are already being undermined is deeply troubling and entirely unacceptable." READ MORE: By-election hustings chaos as Tory candidate walks out over Labour no-show Husseini went on: "Rather than fulfilling its legal and moral duties to ensure the protection of an occupied people – Britain continues to provide diplomatic, economic, and military support to the occupying power. "As other states, international bodies, and civil society institutions take steps to halt Israeli atrocities, the UK Government continues to participate in these crimes and further isolate itself on the international stage." The British Palestinian Committee called on Lammy to: Immediately clarify the nature and mandate of Austin's visit to Israel and "take appropriate steps to ensure that the government is not reneging on its own policy". Drop the 2030 roadmap for UK-Israel bilateral relations, and "impose comprehensive economic and diplomatic sanctions in order to apply pressure on Israel to abide by its international obligations". Cease "all forms of military cooperation with Israel and impose a full two-way arms embargo, in line with the UK's obligations under international law, including the duty to prevent, punish, and ensure non-complicity in genocide". The UK Government has previously insisted that the visit was unrelated to the recently suspended new free trade deal and that Austin was not involved in trade negotiations. The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment.
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
British Palestinians ‘disgusted' by Trump's suggested US takeover of Gaza
British Palestinians have said they are 'disgusted' by President Donald Trump's suggestion the US could take ownership of the Gaza Strip. Mr Trump on Tuesday said he does not 'think people should be going back' to Gaza and proposed the US turn the territory into 'the Riviera of the Middle East' in which the 'world's people' – including Palestinians – would live. Ghassan Ghaben, a 34-year-old campaigner from Gaza living in Manchester, described President Trump's proposal as 'dehumanising'. 'If Donald Trump really cares about the Palestinians that much, he should be calling for the return of refugees from Gaza to their homes,' Mr Ghaben told the PA news agency. 'The whole scene yesterday (Tuesday) was the most outrageous – I felt disgusted. 'He's talking about the Palestinians as though they are nothing. 'This is just further dehumanisation.' Mr Ghaben, who has lost more than 60 family members and friends, during the last 15 months of fighting, said Palestinians deserve to rebuild their lives in peace. 'Our families want to be in their homeland – they want to rebuild and they want to live in dignity,' he said. 'The international community should be calling for the rebuilding of Gaza. 'They need to condemn all those plans that have been announced by President Trump and take immediate steps.' Mohammed Ghalayini, a scientist from Gaza city living in Manchester, described Mr Trump's suggestions as 'very scary'. 'If the last 15 months have shown us anything, it's that the regard for international law is at an all-time low, and this suggestion that the US would occupy and take over Gaza for Israel's benefit, ultimately, is just another demonstration of that,' Mr Ghalayini told PA. 'It's very scary, my friends, family and community in Palestine who are there now are facing a horrific situation.' The 45-year-old, who lived in Gaza from the age of nine to 25, says the US occupation of Gaza would mean more suffering for Palestinians. 'You kind of wonder whether there are any grown-ups in the room that can step in, because it feels like most of the world is happy to pander to Trump to get their interests served,' he said. Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that Palestinians 'must be allowed home'. 'They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution,' he said.
