Roger calls on Foreign Secretary to support sanctions against Israel and end arms exports
Posted by Roger Godsiff, MP for Birmingham, Hall Green, at 12:46, Wed 6 August 2014:
Roger has written to the new Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond MP, to express his horror at the ongoing slaughter of civilians in Gaza. More than eighteen hundred Palestinians have now been killed, including 430 children, simply because they live in Gaza. Roger called on the Foreign Secretary to support international sanctions against Israel, at the level of either the EU or the UN, and to bring in an immediate arms embargo against Israel.
He wrote: "It is utterly unacceptable for UK weapons companies to continue making a profit by selling weapons which will be used against innocent and unarmed people, including children. I previously called on the Government to bring in an arms embargo, only to be told that all countries have a legitimate right to self-defence and weapons export licences to Israel were “under review”. However, the number of civilian casualties in Gaza has shown that Israel’s actions far exceed legitimate self-defence, and the UK must urgently reconsider its decision to continue selling the weapons which are used for this destruction and murder."
This month of bombing of a part of the world which is already heavily populated and under-resourced has caused a huge amount of damage to houses and property in Gaza, as well as its basic infrastructure. Roger also asked the Foreign Secretary what assistance the UK Government will provide to the people of Palestine to rebuild their lives when the current conflict ends. He called on the Government to urge Israel to end the blockade and allow essential building materials, food and medicine—at the very least—to enter Gaza.
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Posted by Colin, 13:02, Wed 6 August 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Israel's actions are outrageous & unforgivable. If this slaughter was the behaviour of Iraq, or Libya, there would be uproar & calls for intervention. How ironic, that Israel, which, quite rightly, eternally bemoans the horrors of the holocaust, should be responsible for this modern-day massacre of civilians. An arms embargo should be the least of it.
Posted by Bill Banning, 14:26, Wed 6 August 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Well done Roger. Bill Banning, Hall Green Branch
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 15:43, Wed 6 August 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Roger had never considered this issue and it seems he took this measure when I had posted the following in his post which dealt with energy.
"Let us consider a pressing issue which is the war fought in Israel/Palestine.
UK has to take the criminal responsibility with their counter parts the US for arming Israel with weapons of mass destruction which they are now using against their neighbour Palestine. I have not seen the holocaust that the Jews had experienced in the past, but I have witnessed how Jew leaders in Israel are perpetrating holocaust against Palestine for political gain. Palestine needs tunnel to get food supply as all the boarders are closed. They are fighting defensive war against Israel, not forgetting that they (Israel) have capability of producing nuclear weapons. The US has vetoed all the resolutions passed by the UN against Israel.
I am not saying that all Jews are bad but the civilian Israeli Jews should rise up and stop their leaders killing innocent Palestine civilians and children.
What Israel has done is to occupy an Arab land which does not belong to them in the first place and have also usurp the neighbours land and built on it. How can there be any peace and how the killers can sleep peaceful at night defies any logic.
So Roger what are you and the UK government going to do?"
It is an irony that Roger is getting a credit for it.
Posted by Tahir Mahmood, 21:57, Wed 6 August 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Well done mr godsiff! I nearly came close to cancelling , my membership of the labour party. I find it abhorrent that most of the political parties have been mute over the war crimes israel is committing. Then the parties want to know what motivates the extremists to go and fight abroad. Murder is murder no matter who commits it. Israels massive disproportionate response to their so called security issues cannot be justified in any court of law. If you have a small place blockaded then what are the people of gaza supposed to do? ? I am still very annoyed that as a whole this countries political parties have kept quiet. Mr godsiff will israel be taken to the hague for war crimes? I got an inkling the answer might be no. Russia supposedly shot a passenger plane down with approx 200 people and the world was in uproar, israel has killed hundreds. I have two children and I explain to them why countries want to go for nuclear arms because if your strong than nothing no one dares to attack you.
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 10:48, Thu 7 August 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
Personally I do not belong to any party because I have noticed that to be elected they promise a lot but once in office they deliver nothing.
Tahir Mahmood, nothing will happen to Israel and Israelis aggression for the past decade proves that they know about it. What I want to know is for Roger to use the Freedom of Information Act and tell us what weapons have been supplied to Israel for the last ten years and at what cost? As a level playing field will the same type of weapons be supplied to Palestine? Will the American do the same?
The film footage showed that the Israel had entered the sovereign Palestine state on the pretext of trying to find three kidnapped civilians and this led to mass killing of civilian women and children of Palestine. What would have been happened if Palatinate had done this to Israel? Why a double standard?
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 10:37, Mon 11 August 2014: (Is this post abusive?) #
I found the following posting titled 'The Largest Prison on Earth' and I want to share with you.
1. Gaza was invaded by Israel in 1967 & ever since Israel is illegally occupying the whole of the Gaza strip.
2. Gaza is surrounded on three sides by Israel who has blocked all these three sides by Army & Navy. One side is the border of Egypt where the Egyptian army along with Israeli & UN observers & monitors blocks the entry of any body from/to Gaza. So Gaza is literally huge prison where not even a bird can enter without Israel's permission.
3. Gaza has no sea port or airport or even a train station.
4. Gaza residents cannot leave Gaza as they don't even have passports. Plus there are Israeli checkpoints at every place. Also no one from any country can enter Gaza without Israel's permission which is impossible to get. Forget about ordinary man, even the top politicians of powerful countries had been denied entry in Gaza by Israel. Gaza is a place which is totally cut off from the rest of the world.
5. Each and every daily use commodities come through these Israeli check points. Even milk, wheat medicines & all other essential items come through these Israeli check points. Israel charge taxes on all these items which go through these check points.
6. Gaza is like a big jail. In fact, It is an entire country under seize. Even inside Gaza, Israel have several check posts at important junctions. The Israeli army harasses and humiliates Gaza citizens every day as the Gaza citizens cross these check posts.
7. The UN has urged Israel numerous times to remove this illegal seizure of Gaza but Israel never listens to UN. More than 50 resolutions have been passed by UN against Israel seize, but with the support of USA, Israel just don't care.
8. The food and essentials are always in short supply in Gaza as Israel delays, discourages and harass its imports in Gaza. Shops don't have enough rations, hospitals don't have enough and essential medicines. Power is in short supply, petrol and gas is in shortage too. The inflation is highest in the world in Gaza as a result of this. The poverty is rising at the highest rate also. The Gaza children's are among the worst malnourished children now.
9. There are no specialized doctors or equipments to treat the serious injury or disease in any hospitals. Every now and then Israeli army bomb Gaza and the innocent civilians get hurt during bombing. These wounded civilians plead and beg in the check points to let them out for treatment but most of the time, Israeli army never let them. So the wounds which could have been treated become more severe and often the wounded becomes handicapped for the rest of their lives.
10. Once a thriving society and rich people now have become beggars & prisoners in their own country. Imagine the trauma, the humiliation, the harassment & the pain in the hearts of these people who have been invaded and made prisoners and slaves in their own country.
11. They have been struggling for their independence since almost 50 years now. With each passing day Israel is constructing new settlements for its Israeli citizens in their land. With each passing day their hope of independence, a hope to live a normal life like any other human is fading away. Every night they sleep in pain and every morning they wake up with sorrows.
12. In the pretext of peace talks Israel actually is delaying their independence to capture more and more of their land everyday by constructing new Israeli homes and settlements. The Palestinians know this and they are watching it helplessly. Just like a goat watch the lion eats its children but can do nothing. They are shedding tears of blood. With Israeli soldiers harassing them, cursing them, abusing them, mocking them, hurting them , killing them daily in their very own land, all Palestinians can do is watch and cry.
What suggestions do you have? The western compliant media is making & broadcasting news in such a manner that one feels as if Gaza residence are the one who are occupying Israel and Israel is fighting for the freedom of its citizen. So that the world can only curse and blame Gaza residents.
Can you feel their misery and helplessness? We cannot even imagine spending even one day in the jail called Gaza and they are living there daily – for over 50 years. This is what residence of Gaza are fighting for today. With a loss of thousands of lives and hundreds of thousands becoming homeless and with what little economy they had now in total ruins, they hope to salvage the future for their children. Let us hope International Governments, especially from civilised democratic world, will help and support their cause and salvage their honour.