Members of High Peak Against Racism have welcomed new Government measures targeting Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, but are calling for further action.
At their weekly Vigil for Palestine, members displayed placards reading: ‘Well Done Ed Miliband, A Good First Step, Now Stop Arming Israel’.
The Government announced on Tuesday 8th September that it would ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, alongside further measures targeting people and companies supporting, facilitating or profiting from settlement activity.
Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the UK believes ethnic cleansing is taking place in the West Bank and described the situation as a ‘moral emergency’. The Government has also said it considers Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories to be unlawful.
“We welcome the Government’s acknowledgment that ethnic cleansing is taking place in the West Bank” said the group’s secretary Linda Walker.
“Now it is time for the Government to accept that what has been happening in Gaza over the last three years is genocide, and to act accordingly. We are calling for a full arms embargo and an end to all military cooperation with Israel.”
The group says it has held a weekly vigil throughout the conflict in Gaza and has noticed increased support from passing motorists and pedestrians in recent weeks.
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