A delegation from Priests Against Genocide has hand-delivered a letter to British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, renewing the group’s call for the UK government to take further, more decisive action against Israel over Gaza, the West Bank and southern Lebanon.
Priests Against Genocide is a network of more than 2,600 priests, deacons and bishops, including three cardinals, in 68 countries, including South Africa.
Their letter to Burnham, a Catholic, follows an earlier one sent on August 19, to which the group says it has not received a formal acknowledgement.
While the group welcomes the UK government’s recent decision, taken with foreign secretary Ed Miliband, to restrict trade with illegal Israeli settlements, they raise three points for the prime minister’s attention:
1. that such trade represents only around 1% of total UK–Israel trade;
2. that the UK arms trade takes place overwhelmingly with the government of Israel itself, not with the settlements;
3. and that Israel’s response – closing its consulate in Jerusalem – in practice penalises Palestinians, who can no longer obtain UK visas there, while Israeli citizens require no visa to visit Britain.
The priests warn that the measure risks shielding the Israeli state from scrutiny rather than holding it to account for what they describe as genocide in Gaza, apartheid in the West Bank, and ethnic cleansing in southern Lebanon.
They argue that, as with the apartheid-era South Africa, only comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions measures are likely to change the course of events, and they urge the government not to treat the settlements measure as sufficient in itself.
The letter comes after a meeting on September 15, when a delegation of eight priests and one deacon from Priests Against Genocide met at the Houses of Parliament with seven MPs and four peers, for what the group described as a lively and informative discussion. Those taking part included Sir Edward Leigh (Father of the House), Ian Byrne, Richard Burgon, Imran Hussain, Mary Glindon, Brendan O’Hara and Jeremy Corbyn MPs, and Baroness Sheila Hollins, Baroness Gloria Hooper, Baroness Anna Healy and Lord Paul Murphy.
For the latter part of the meeting, the delegation was joined by three doctors recently returned from working in Gaza – two orthopaedic surgeons and one A&E consultant – who gave first-hand accounts of conditions on the ground and the impact on Gaza’s healthcare system.
Canon Pat Browne, coordinating the group’s correspondence, said: “We were grateful for such a well-attended and candid conversation with parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, and humbled to hear directly from doctors who have just returned from Gaza. Today we are asking the Prime Minister, once again, to match the courage of that first step on the settlements with the comprehensive action this crisis demands.”
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