@cnocfola The UK has strategic defence interests in the region including defending UK citizens and allies in the Gulf from missile and terrorist attacks and delivering aid to those in need, particularly those in Gaza.
That’s just simply nonsense and clearly has nothing to do with the obviously anti-Semitic image above.
Netanyahu is clear in his belief that he will conduct Israeli operations with a free hand regardless of international opinion. He has however been given clear operational freedom by the Trump White House which is the main arms supplier.
I personally believe the actions being undertaken by Netanyahu’s Government are extreme, morally abhorrent and counter productive, as do most if not all Labour members. The level of casualties are simply unjustifiable.
Labour came to office in July 2024 (9 months after this kicked off) and undertook work to suspend arms licences to Israel, with 30 suspensions enacted in September of that year.
The extremist politicians Ben-Gvir and Smotrich were later sanctioned in June 2025.
Labour is opposed to illegal settlements, ethnic cleansing and genocide - in line with our commitments under international law - and will continue to strive to bring the conflict to an end.
@q_7777000@JohnGal52768293@305Spurs Ah so suddenly you’ll believe what someone in the IDF says when it suits your narrative, but you’ll ignore the legions of Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) leaders saying their objective is to spread Islam and exterminate Jews and the Jewish state? Come off it lad! 🤣
Israel has previously removed settlements. In 2005, the Israeli Defence Force forcibly removed 8,000-9,000 settlers when it unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza strip.
Netanyahu and his extreme coalition have allowed the situation in the West Bank to deteriorate, he is rightly called out by the international community and with any luck he will be removed in the upcoming Israeli elections.
Again, the key difference is that in Ireland Dáil Éireann and the Irish people accepted the compromise of the Treaty as a stepping stone to further freedom. The Palestinian leadership have never accepted such a compromise and ultimately are now in their current position.
@TOwainlfc I mean, I wasn't there at the time. There was a clear humanitarian crisis and the world tried to solve it as best it could. It still needs to be solved, and it will take patience, trust, negotiation and compromise.
The Palestinian leadership have been offered a state on multiple occasions - they have refused it.
The consistent theme has not been Israeli denial of a Palestinian state, it is the Palestinian denial of an Israeli state.
The failure of the Camp David summit (which offered Yasser Arafat 100% of Gaza and 92% of the West Bank, as well as land swaps) led to the second intifada and a Palestinian suicide bombing campaign which killed over 1000 Israelis.
There is more than one party to this conflict.
You're referring to the Occupied Territories, which are not part of Israel, and the consequentials of the various security arrangements in place following the Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada. It is undoubted that these need to be brought to an end as part of the two-state solution.
Yes, Arab Muslims have the same full and legal rights as Jewish Israelis including the right to vote, form political parties, serve in the Judiciary etc.
The Israeli Declaration of Independence was clear:
'...we yet call upon the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to return to the ways of peace and play their part in the development of the State, with full and equal citizenship and the representation in all its bodies and institutions, provisional or permanent.
We offer peace and amity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.'
That isn't to say there isn't disadvantage or discrimination - certainly there is - but compare that to the position of minority rights across the world.
Okay, so when are you campaigning for the return of the descendants of 3.1 million Germans back to Western Poland, or 14 million Indians and Pakistanis back to their original homelands in India and Pakistan? Not to mention the 700,000 Jews expelled from Arab countries following Israeli independence?
A one-state solution is effectively a no-state solution for the Jewish people, at a time when militants want them driven into the sea.
The only way to move forward is with two-states: with peace and independence for Palestinians, peace and security for Israelis and active economic and social cooperation between the two.
Apart from the fact that 2 million of the Israeli population are Arab Muslims, in your supposed Ethno-state, the Jewish presence in the Holy Land is millennia old and Jerusalem has been a majority Jewish city since the 19th Century.
Not to forget the flood of refugees, orphaned children and desperate people caused by the Holocaust - all whilst members of the Arab Higher Committee collaborated with the Nazis.
Are you against people fleeing persecution more generally or just in this historical instance?
Not all Jews are Zionists, and those that are are entitled to that viewpoint. It's just a bit odd that so many non-Jewish people define themselves as anti-Jewish self-determination within a UN mandated territory, when they don't define themselves as anti-any other territory or peoples.
@TOwainlfc Seeing how one dovetails into the other should be a massive concern to all right-minded and reasonable people, and called out appropriately.
Israel was created by international agreement - UN Resolution 181 - and the combined support of the United States and the Soviet Union. It was smaller than Northern Ireland is now and filled with refugees and asylum seekers.
It was subsequently invaded in 1948, 1967 and 1973 by combined Arab forces, many times its size and population, who refused to recognise it, accept peace with it or create a free and independent state for Palestinians.
But aye, keep on with that settler-colonial chat 👍
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