Latest news with #HusamZomlot
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Palestinian ambassador: UK should recognize statehood to help end ‘deadly status quo'
LONDON: The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has called on the Labour government to fulfill its manifesto pledge and recognize his nation as an independent sovereign state. Husam Zomlot wrote in The Guardian that the move was 'long overdue' ahead of a UN conference on the two-state solution next week in New York, and that it would help end the 'deadly status quo' with Israel. 'I call on the British government to end this vicious path, right its historic wrongs and officially recognize the state of Palestine while the conditions are uniquely ripe to do so,' Zomlot wrote. 'Recognition is neither a reward for one party nor a punishment for another. It is a long-overdue affirmation of the Palestinian people's unconditional right to exist and live freely in our homeland,' he added. 'Peace is not made between occupier and occupied. It can only exist between equals.' Ahead of the UN conference on June 17, set to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, several states yet to recognize Palestine have begun discussions about doing so, including the UK and Canada. Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer came under pressure in the House of Commons on Tuesday for the government to recognize Palestine unconditionally. Foreign Secretary David Lammy recently told Parliament the UK had held direct talks with France about Palestinian statehood, but added the UK wanted the move to amount to more than just a symbolic gesture. But Zomlot wrote: 'Recognition (should not) be subject to ever more conditions on the Palestinian side. Delaying recognition simply reinforces the deadly status quo, denying Palestinians' equal rights until Israel consents, thus granting our occupier a permanent veto over the future.' Ahead of the conference, the French government, which is also believed to be among those set to recognize Palestine, published a letter laying out political commitments made by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, including that a future Palestinian state would require Hamas 'laying down its weapons' and 'no longer ruling Gaza.' The commitments included holding democratic presidential elections within a year, and Hamas accepting nonviolence, disarmament, and the two-state solution. Abbas also condemned the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by the militant group, and demanded the release of all remaining hostages in Gaza. Hugh Lovatt, from the European Council on Foreign Relations, told The Guardian: 'Recognition would certainly allow London and Paris to press the PA towards political renewal, including the holding of long-overdue elections, but it does not provide them with much leverage over Hamas which does not consider recognition by itself as being of sufficient value of itself to disarm before a peace agreement with Israel is reached.' A senior diplomat from a Gulf state told The Guardian that Hamas had agreed to the proposal to end its rule in Gaza, but not to disarming. Another Gulf diplomat told the paper: 'Israel is seeking the total annihilation of Hamas and will not be willing to hand security in Gaza to the PA or a multinational force.' The US government sent a diplomatic cable on Tuesday urging countries not to attend the conference, calling it 'counterproductive to ongoing, lifesaving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages.' But Zomlot wrote: 'This is a moment of historic consequence. It demands moral clarity and political courage. I urge the UK to rise to the moment and act now.'
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Recognise Palestine now to avoid ‘deadly status quo', says its UK ambassador
Making recognition of a Palestinian state subject to ever more conditions will only reinforce a 'deadly status quo' and will be seen as siding with an apartheid regime, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK has said. Writing in the Guardian, Husam Zomlot made an impassioned plea to the Labour government to fulfil a manifesto commitment by recognising Palestine in the run-up to a high-level UN conference on the two-state solution in New York next week. Zomlot wrote: 'Recognition is neither a reward for one party nor a punishment for another. It is a long-overdue affirmation of the Palestinian people's unconditional right to exist and live freely in our homeland.' Discussions behind the scenes between western powers are going down to the wire before the conference starting on 17 June, while the US is warning that the conference is counterproductive and should be boycotted. At issue is whether a group of countries that have not yet recognised Palestine do so around the conference or instead say recognition is being offered but on a credible timeline and subject to conditions. France and the UK are conferring intensely. With the tide of Labour backbenchers behind him, Zumlot argued recognition was not purely symbolic, but an irreversible first step. He added: 'Neither should recognition be subject to ever more conditions on the Palestinian side. Delaying recognition simply reinforces the deadly status quo, denying Palestinians' equal rights until Israel consents, thus granting our occupier a permanent veto over the future.' Urging the UK to show moral clarity and leadership, he added: 'Peace is not made between occupier and occupied. It can only exist between equals.' France, the co-sponsor of the conference, this week published a letter from the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, in which he stated support for Hamas 'laying down its weapons' and 'no longer ruling Gaza' as part of a future Palestinian state. The PA in the four-page letter also gave unprecedented commitments to reform and to holding long-delayed internationally overseen presidential elections within a year. The French presidency said Abbas had promised that 'Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian security forces, which will oversee their removal outside the occupied Palestinian territory, with Arab and international support'. Hamas would also have to forswear violence and accept a two-state solution. In the letter, the PA also condemned the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, supported a stabilisation mission including Arab and international forces to assist PA security forces and demanded the release of all hostages. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, described the letter as one of hope. A senior Gulf diplomat said Hamas had agreed it would not seek to continue to rule Gaza, but no agreement exists on the group's disarmament, including the body to which it would disarm and whether its depleted leadership would be required to go into exile. He added the definition of a Hamas member was difficult. Hugh Lovatt from the European Council on Foreign Relations said: 'Recognition would certainly allow London and Paris to press the PA towards political renewal, including the holding of long-overdue elections, but it does not provide them with much leverage over Hamas which does not consider recognition by itself as being of sufficient value of itself to disarm before a peace agreement with Israel is reached.' One Gulf diplomat said: 'Israel is seeking the total annihilation of Hamas and will not be willing to hand security in Gaza to the PA or a multinational force.' In the UK, the Middle East minister, Hamish Falconer, came under unprecedented pressure from MPs of all parties in the Commons on Tuesday to recognise Palestine without conditions in advance of the UN conference. He indicated that the UK was involved in intense international diplomacy to find an agreed position among those states that had yet to recognise Palestine. He said he would make a Commons statement next week. Falconer in private conversations appeared sympathetic to recognition now, MPs said, but the decision rests with the prime minister, Keir Starmer. The three countries inside the G7 group of western countries most likely to recognise Palestine are France, Canada and the UK. The G7's annual summit starts on Sunday in Canada. The conference in New York is not formally about recognition, but the steps necessary to achieve a two-state solution, something Israel used to support, but no longer does. Recognition of a Palestinian state is one way of keeping the pathway alive, it is argued. Diplomats said the diverse constellation of countries preparing the conference agenda was significant, with Qatar, Mexico and Brazil, for instance, chairing a working party on peace narratives that will try to address the levels of hate generated by the conflict on both sides. Some diplomats argue that Europe's fear of a backlash from Donald Trump's US over recognition is diminishing since the two sides are drifting so far apart on Israel that the hope of one influencing the other no longer acts as a glue. The new US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has said he does not think a two-state solution, one of the objectives of recognition, is itself any longer desirable.
The National
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
BBC bins complaint linked to Israel's imprisonment of Palestinians
The news bulletin in question was broadcast on February 1 and included an interview with Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK. Zomlot had raised with the BBC the issue of Israel detaining Palestinians, including Palestinian children, without due process. According to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, there were at least 9619 Palestinian people in Israel's prison service in December 2024 (the most recent period for which figures are available). Of these, 1782 – around 18% – were serving sentences while 35% were 'administrative detainees'. READ MORE: UK Government responds after sending spy plane over Gaza to help Israel Speaking in February, Zomlot pointed to a B'Tselem report into Palestinians in Israeli prisons, which found that 'almost all' were held on no charges in a 'network of camps dedicated to the abuse of inmates as a matter of policy'. Zomlot took issue with the BBC's use of the word "prisoners" to describe Palestinians, compared to "hostages" for Israelis, despite the lack of charges against most people detained by Israel. Raising the B'Tselem report, Zomlot said: 'These Israeli camps have turned into torture camps, murder and sexual abuse. 'This is very well documented, and that's why, in me, this is an opportunity for the international media, including the BBC, to shed light on the criminality Israel is inflicting on our people for all these decades.' The BBC host then responded: 'But when a state, and it's Israel in this case, feels under threat from some people who don't even believe that that nation has a right to defend itself, isn't it understandable that they round people up when they feel threatened by those people?' The BBC host then interrupted as Zomlot began to ask: 'Do you know how many people they have…' She said: 'I asked you a question.' Zomlot went on: 'This whole issue of right of self defence has allowed Israel to inflict the mass murder and mass destruction, what the ICJ now describes as 'plausible' genocide.' The BBC host said that Israel denied the charge of genocide. READ MORE: SNP and Scottish Labour unite to condemn 'blatantly racist' Reform UK advert A complaint was then made to the broadcaster about the line of questioning, with specific reference to the suggestion that it 'is understandable that they [Israel] round people up'. A listener suggested this reflected 'bias towards the Israeli government narrative'. The BBC's executive complaints unit accepted that 'the manner in which the question was expressed could have given the impression that rounding up civilians irrespective of their innocence was a justifiable response to security concerns' – but dismissed the complaint overall. The complaints unit said that 'viewers in general would have understood it as an attempt at devil's advocacy'. It then ruled: 'Putting a position to a guest for their response is not the same as endorsing it, but is intended to provide an opportunity for rebuttal – an opportunity which Dr Zumlot [sic] took, responding that Israel had misused the excuse of self-defence.'
The National
06-05-2025
- Politics
- The National
Palestinian ambassador demands UK 'enforces' international law in Gaza
Husam Zomlot said that Israel's designs on indefinitely annexing Gaza were 'the plan from the beginning' as he demanded Keir Starmer 'take action' against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It emerged on Monday that Israel planned to capture the besieged territory and occupy it for an unspecified period of time. Asked on Sky News about the development in the assault on Gaza, which has seen more than 51,000 Palestinians killed, Zomlot said: 'This was the plan from the beginning.' He added: 'It's clear [Israel's plan] has nothing to do with hostages, actually Israel is targeting their own hostages, the plan is not targeting Hamas, the plan is targeting the Palestinian people, depopulating Gaza, reoccupying Gaza and guess what? It's happening also in the West Bank.' (Image: EYAD BABA, AFP via Getty Images) Zomlot called on the UK Government to put sanctions on illegal settlers in the West Bank as well as imposing a full arms embargo on Israel, after ministers gave the country's military a significant carve-out in a ban on weapon sales by allowing fighter jet components to be exported. He said: 'We've just concluded a visit by my prime minister and there were a lot of conversations about this, about moving in a different direction, about the need of the international community, including the UK, to enforce international law rather than call for it. 'If you want to enforce this, stop calling and asking Israel to abide by international law – enforce it. READ MORE: John Swinney speaks out as Israeli ministers plan to 'capture and hold' Gaza 'This requires sanctions on the illegal practices, including the settlements and the settlers, this requires arms embargo, this requires accountability against all war criminals and respecting the independence of the International Criminal Court and this requires the recognition of the state of Palestine. If you want Netanyahu to listen, take action.' Zomlot, who was born in the Rafah refugee camp, said he was filled with 'dread' at the prospect of returning, saying that Gaza had been reduced to a 'post-apocalyptic' state after months of Israeli bombardment. A statement released on Monday evening after Starmer (below) spoke with French president Emmanuel Macron said that both leaders 'expressed their deep concern at recent developments'. (Image: PA) And the Foreign Office has said this week that the UK 'does not support an expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza' after Tel Aviv approved plans to seize the territory. Foreign Secretary David Lammy confirmed last week that the UK Government was in talks about recognising a Palestinian state with France. But Foreign Office minister Hamish Falconer previously batted away suggestions that the UK Government should act in tandem with France – which is planning to recognise a Palestinian state in June – saying that recognition has not 'called it into existence'. He told MPs: 'The question of recognition is obviously one that is raised repeatedly in this house, our position remains the same. 'We do wish to recognise a Palestinian state, we wish to do so as a contribution to a two-state solution and we will make a judgment about when the best moment is to try and make the fullest possible contribution.' The UK Government was approached for comment.
Arab News
11-03-2025
- General
- Arab News
Goodwill Caravan raises thousands during London's Ramadan iftar to help Sudan, Palestine
LONDON: Goodwill Caravan, a UK-based humanitarian charity, raised thousands of dollars during a Ramadan iftar event in London to support refugees from Palestine and Sudan living in Egypt. The charity has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years for emergency food and aid campaigns in countries affected by armed conflicts. Hanan Ashegh, founder of Goodwill Caravan, told Arab News that the charity hopes to raise £150,000 ($194,000) by the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which concludes in March. Donations will support the Sallam Center in Cairo, which provides emergency assistance to displaced people from war-torn regions, including Sudan and the Gaza Strip, offering food, shelter, legal support, and medical aid. Ashegh said that an auction and iftar event raised £55,000 this week. Last year, the charity raised £120,000 during a single Ramadan iftar to help Palestinians in Gaza by sending 16 trucks loaded with aid to the coastal enclave. The charity is planning to open the Sallam Center in Libya to help those in need and support sub-Saharan refugees and trafficking survivors in the North African country that has experienced over a decade of political schism and instability. Ashegh said that the charity employs a 'holistic model' to address the issues faced by refugees, helping with food, shelter, and integration into a country 'that may not readily accept them.' Event is a testament to the depth of support Palestinians have in the British public Husam Zomlot, Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told Arab News that such fundraising events are 'a testament to the depth of support (Palestinians) have in the British public, and particularly among those who really want to support the Palestinian cause not only by words but by deeds.' Between October 2023 and the summer of 2024, around 110,000 Palestinians were forced to flee to Egypt as Israel bombed Gaza, killing tens of thousands of people. Zomlot added that it was essential to support displaced Palestinians in Egypt and in other countries, and to ensure that 'until they return back to their home, rebuild their lives, they also have lives wherever they are.' Goodwill Caravan, founded in 2015, manages refugee and anti-trafficking projects in Greece and the UK, and has helped hundreds of Palestinian families from Gaza at its Sallam Center in Egypt. Myriam Francois, a British journalist, filmmaker, and writer, said that refugees are frequently demonized not only by British and US tabloids but also worldwide. 'Refugees are represented as some sort of existential threat to our societies,' she told Arab News. Francois said that charitable acts are vital to provide refugees with 'the tools to be able to get back on their feet.' She added that Ramadan is a special time to 'recalibrate ourselves in the rhythm of our faith' and help those in need.
