Palestinian ambassador urges UK to take a stand against 'Israel'
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Zomlot slams the "unconditional support to Israel" given by the US and Western Europe that is pushing the occupation and the world "off a cliff."
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Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot attending the Doha Forum in Qatar on December 11, 2023 (AFP)
The Labour administration in the UK must abandon its half-hearted half-measures toward "Israel", said Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, speaking at a briefing to commemorate the war on Gaza.
He stated that "Israel's" lack of accountability for its conduct threatens to undermine the whole globe, and nations, such as the United Kingdom, which is known for its support of international humanitarian law, must go further. He advocated for a complete arms embargo, the recognition of a Palestinian state, and economic sanctions to "dismantle the apparatus of illegal settlements in the West Bank."
According to Zomlot, the "unconditional support to Israel" given by the US and Western Europe is pushing the occupation and the world "off a cliff."
He blasted the lack of accountability, citing that "the lesson for everyone else will be clear: international law and world laws based on these prohibitions on war crimes and atrocities, as well as the hunger that has killed 2.3 million people, are useless until we put a stop to it in Gaza."
The ambassador also stated that such half-measures would not persuade "Israel" to accept the UN ceasefire resolution and the implementation of the International Court of Justice's verdicts and questioned why the UK had abstained at the UN Security Council on the execution of an ICJ order instructing "Israel" to leave the occupied areas within a year, pointing out that the UK had previously said that it agreed with the ICJ's view.
According to Zomlot, the UK's limited arms embargo was ineffective, pointing to the fact that the UK had previously divulged it would acknowledge Palestine when it is most effective, and he could not conceive of a better time than now.
He reiterated that the Palestinian desire was "to live in peace and dignity just like everyone else, it’s as simple and human as that," questioning what "Israel's" endgame was, explaining that it was embroiled in a war not to defend itself but rather to "defend its illegal occupation, and this includes a war on demolishing the entire global rules-based order."
"Israel’s strategic outlook is entirely dominated by the use of sheer military power to impose its will, rather than the compromises to reach any agreement," Zomlot explained.
