UK sanctions Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank

Alex Ritson (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Alex Ritson, and at 14 Hours GMT on Tuesday 8th September, these are our main stories. The UK government announces sanctions over Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Canadian tariffs on a range of US goods come into effect, and thieves steal Renoir paintings worth millions of dollars from a French museum. Also, in this podcast.

René Haas (0:31)

More importantly, you'll find a cure for cancer that today, you and I, other humans, not in our lifetimes. I believe in our lifetime, AI will help cure cancer.

Alex Ritson (0:41)

Boss of a leading computer chip maker predicts AI will create a revolution in healthcare.

The British government has announced a ban on goods from Israeli settlements and the Occupied West Bank as part of what it calls a comprehensive reset of policy. Settlements are illegal under international law. Speaking in parliament, the Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband, said his commitment to the two-state solution had led him to a deep sense of shame about what has been happening in Palestine. He also said plans to build thousands of new homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank were unacceptable.

Ed Miliband (1:22)

Today I announced that the official view of the British government is that the occupation is unlawful.

Because of Israel's entrenchment of its control, its intention to extend permanent sovereignty, and its expansionist agenda via illegal settlements. Madam Deputy Speaker, our position is not just an overdue statement of reality. The government believes the unlawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationships we choose to have with the occupied territories. I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets. So I can announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories.

Alex Ritson (2:08)

The British Foreign Secretary, Ed Miliband. Mr Miliband also said Canada and France are joining the UK in banning these goods and services from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

A number of other European countries, including Poland, Portugal and Sweden, are planning to limit trade with the settlements, according to a statement from their foreign ministries. Our diplomatic correspondent, Paul Adams, was listening to the UK Foreign Secretary's speech. He gave us his assessment of what Mr Miliband had to say.

Paul Adams (2:39)

I think this is very significant and clearly the tone of and content of Ed Miliband's speech made it clear that he feels that too. This was a speech clearly highly personal, perhaps a speech that only a Jewish foreign secretary could make. And he spoke of his commitment to Israel, of his fond memories of visiting Israel.

He was keen to draw a distinction between criticism of Israel and the relationship of this government and the Jewish population of the UK. But at the same time, he made it clear that the government is going to depart very significantly from the policies of previous governments when it comes to the measures that you just mentioned. Not just a ban on the products from settlements, something that many MPs have called for for a long time, but also on services to settlements, on the advertising of settlements in the UK.

And he used language that frankly would have been unthinkable only perhaps a couple of years ago. He talked about his agreement with an Israeli former Brigadier General who said that ethnic cleansing was going on in the West Bank. So this was, I think, both in tone and content, an absolutely fundamental departure with the policies of previous governments.

SPEAKER_5 (4:04)

Paul, what did he say about some of the criticisms that he heard from the shadow Foreign Secretary, Tom Tuggenhatt, which had been raised by others, including the Board of Deputies here in the UK, that this action will fuel anti-Semitism in the UK?

Paul Adams (4:19)

He anticipated much of that at the beginning of his address in talking about anti-Semitism in the United Kingdom and about his own relationship with the Jewish people.

He is Jewish and with the state of Israel. He said he described himself as a proud British Jew. And he said that there was absolutely, in his words, no contradiction between the support for Israel and the support for a state of Palestine. When it comes to some of the other things that Tom Tuggenhout was highlighting, the threats to important exports of medical supplies to the United Kingdom from Israel, to the issue of security cooperation, and of course also the fact that Israel is about going to elections and these measures announced by Britain and other governments could bolster the hard right in Israel. I think clearly Mr Miliband responded in a way that suggested that he had thought through these issues very carefully and had decided that notwithstanding these dangers, some of which he dismissed, the important and the right moral thing to do.