'There is ethnic cleansing': UK announces sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank

Israeli “terrorists” are conducting ethnic cleansing in the West Bank with the tacit backing of the government, the UK foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, told Parliament, in the strongest condemnation ever by the UK government. Subscribe ► youtube.com
Miliband said the government would now take the official position that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety and has announced sweeping sanctions, alongside 11 other countries including France and Canada, on trade with Israeli settlements. This includes an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories, a ban on the advertising in the UK of illegal settlement properties and a ban on arms licences and other exports that “materially contribute to the occupation”. “All too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse. Members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians. I recognise the gravity of saying this, but the truth is the least the people who face such suffering deserve. And it should be the prelude to justice,” said Miliband. #westbank #palestine #israel #ethniccleansing #occupiedwestbank #illegalsettlements #israelisettlers #israelisettlerviolence #uk