We reproduce Matt Willgress’s speech to the Labour & Palestine fringe meeting ‘Justice for Palestine: Defend International Law, Sanctions Now!’ in Liverpool yesterday on the eve of Labour Party Conference.

For those of you who are new to Arise – a Festival of Left Ideas, we are a cross-party, movement-led socialist events platform, both online and in person. And we are co-hosting three other important events this week you can find information about it in your packs.

Other speakers will concentrate on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, so I am going to use my short time to focus attention on the crimes unfolding in the West Bank.

Two weeks ago, the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem released a comprehensive report into what is happening in the West Bank – coming after an earlier report from Amnesty International.

Both these reports are yet more evidence that what has been happening in the occupied West Bank are not individual incidents or actions of rogue elements, but a systemic plan to eliminate Palestinian presence – part of denying the Palestinian people their right to self-determination and seeking to undermine the possibility of any kind of Palestinian state.

So what is happening?

There has been a dramatic intensification of violent attacks, economic strangulation and seizures of land since October 2023.

There have been 1,107 Palestinians killed and 64 entire communities forcibly displaced.

Additionally, the aforementioned reports show the occupied West Bank is under ‘full economic strangulation’ with the denial of livelihoods, destruction of civilian and agricultural infrastructure, tightening controls over resources and the banking system, and the undermining of the ability of public institutions to provide basic services.

And the situation is getting worse – In July, the Israeli military signed 15 ‘land confiscation acts’ in the West Bank, illegal under international law.

And people are seeking to profit from that significant land grab here. In June Andy McDonald MP sent a letter signed by 101 Parliamentarians to the then Foreign Secretary raising the alarm over a real estate event in London which advertised the sale of land in the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

So what now?

It was significant for a British Foreign Minister describing what has been happening as ethnic cleansing and accepting the International Court of Justice opinion that the occupation of the West Bank, not just the settlements, are unlawful.

The government announced a trade ban with illegal settlements but much more needs to be done – and the motion passed at the recent TUC Congress give us a clear framework for this and the demands we make, backing the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

As the TUC motion put it, “BDS is an effective strategy to pressure Israel to end its ongoing genocide, system of apartheid, occupation and denial of the right of return for refugees.”

This is the time to turn these words into action. This means those who support Palestinian rights should amplify and build on the TUC resolving to:

“* campaign for legislation banning trade with the illegal settlements and suspension of the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement…

*  support the Palestinian-led BDS movement; trade union-led campaigns in support of Palestine; the workplace days of action; divestment from companies complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians…

* end all military cooperation and arms trade with Israel to comply with international law

* calling on the government to impose wide-ranging sanctions on Israel until it complies with international law.”

As the title of this meeting says – justice for Palestine, sanctions now!

Matt Willgress is an activist with Labour & Palestine.

Image: c/o Labour Hub.