LONDON: Hundreds of British MPs have publicly called for a full ban on trade and financial deals with illegal Israeli settlements.
The 238 MPs, representing more than a third of Parliament, comprise 141 Labour members, 63 Liberal Democrats, two Conservatives, seven independents, seven from Sinn Fein, four from the Scottish National Party, four Greens, four from Plaid Cymru, two from the Social Democratic and Labour Party, and one from the Alliance Party.
They include the 140 Labour MPs who signed a recent letter proposing the same ban, as well as those who signed a letter by the Council for Arab-British Understanding calling for a ban in March this year.
CAABU has long called for such a move in view of the UK’s decades-long recognition of Israeli settlements as illegal under international law.
“That 238 British MPs are prepared publicly to state their call for a complete ban on all trade and financial dealings with Israel’s illegal settlements shows that, increasingly, this is supported across the British political establishment,” the council’s director, Chris Doyle, told Arab News.
