By Richard Burgon MP
This month marks the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, when over 700,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes.
The “Nakba”, which in Arabic means ‘the catastrophe,’ was a time of immense suffering — and it is right that we mark it each year.
But the Nakba is not just an historic event. It is not merely a stark warning from the past — it is an ongoing reality.
As UN officials have made clear: the Nakba of 1948 and the displacement in Gaza today are not separate events — they are part of the same ongoing project of dispossession and displacement.
Once again, on the anniversary of the Nakba, Palestinians in Gaza are being forced to flee en masse — with nowhere safe to go.
This is not just a humanitarian crisis. It is a political project — one that seeks to remove a people from their land.
Genocide Livestreamed in Gaza
We are now witnessing a genocide, livestreamed in real time — with tens of thousands murdered with impunity, children starved, hospitals bombed, and war crime after war crime carried out.
Yet some governments — including our own — are not merely standing by. They are actively helping to arm Israel, including with the world’s most powerful fighter jets.
The hypocrisy is glaring. Widespread sanctions are rightly imposed on Russia for its illegal invasion, yet refused when it comes to Israel.
We must change that.
I was proud to attend the launch of The Hague Group — a new coalition of governments pushing for coordinated sanctions on Israel.
We need more initiatives like that. We must build a global movement for justice in Palestine — including sanctions on Israel — until freedom is secured, just as was done in the fight against apartheid South Africa.
Words alone from our government and others are not enough. Widespread sanctions are needed to stop Israel’s war crimes.
Ending the Illegal Occupation
And that is what international law now demands.
Last year, the world’s top court — the International Court of Justice — found that the Israeli occupation is illegal.
The Court demanded that it end immediately.
Crucially, the Court also ruled that all states have clear obligations under international law. That includes obligations not to provide aid or assistance to Israel, and not to enter into economic or trade dealings that maintain its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Fulfilling that means we need sanctions against Israel’s occupation.
My New Bill For Sanctions
That is why I am bringing forward a Parliamentary Bill for widespread sanctions on Israel, with my colleague Imran Hussain MP.
Last year, for UN Day for Palestine, we organised a letter signed by over 60 parliamentarians from seven parties — demanding such sanctions.
That was ignored. So our next step is our Bill, which will be published in the coming weeks.
It calls for an arms embargo — including an end to the export of parts used in F-35 fighter jets sold to Israel and used to bomb Gaza with 2,000-pound bombs.
But it goes further. It also demands:
• Travel bans and asset freezes against all individuals and entities involved in maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;
• A ban on trade with all illegal Israeli settlements. The government says these settlements are illegal — so why allow trade with them?
• The scrapping of the 2030 Roadmap — a special partnership between the UK and Israel that seeks to deepen economic, trade, and security ties. How can this possibly remain on the agenda after all the war crimes we have seen?
The Bill also calls on the UK Government to undertake a comprehensive review of all current trade, security, military, and diplomatic relations — to ensure they do not in any way entrench Israel’s unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
If the Government carries out such a review, they’ll find that even more sanctions are needed to bring Israel into compliance with international law.
In my view, we need the scale of sanctions imposed on Russia to be imposed on Israel.
That is the only way to force Israel to abide by international law, to stop the war crimes and to end its illegal occupation of Palestine.
We Are The Defenders of International Law
To end, I want to make a broader point about what we are fighting for.
Of course, we are fighting to save the lives of the Palestinian people — targeted in the face of Israel’s crimes against humanity.
But we are also fighting to defend the entire system of global justice and human rights law.
Because when governments across the world allow Israel to tear up the rule book of international law, the consequences are real — and dangerous.
If we allow a world where such war crimes are tolerated, where international rules are applied only to our opponents and not allies, and where anarchy replaces law — then we are all less safe.
By imposing widespread sanctions on Israel, our government would be taking a stand in defence of international law — and sending a message that no state, including Israel, can trample international law with impunity.
Richard Burgon has been MP for Leeds East since 2015 and served as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice from 2016 to 2020.
Image: Official portrait of Richard Burgon MP. Source: https://members-api.parliament.uk/api/Members/4493/Portrait?cropType=ThreeFour, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
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