NEW EDMs – JUNE, JULY 2015
EDM 60
EVICTION OF PALESTINIAN BEDOUIN COMMUNITIES FROM ISRAELI-OCCUPIED WEST BANK
Tabled on 1.6.15 by Grahame M Morris
That this House notes with deep concern that, despite being a clear and egregious violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel advanced a ‘relocation plan’ that will see 7,000 Palestinian Bedouins and herders, 60 per cent of them children, who currently reside in 46 small residential areas, forcibly transferred and their homes demolished; further notes that, according to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, most families have pending home demolition orders, 85 per cent of which lack connection to electricity and water, and that two-thirds of Palestinian communities have experienced extreme settler violence creating a coercive environment that functions as push factors; affirms Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and the International Committee of the Red Cross’s legal interpretation, that mass forcible transfer and forced evictions of protected peoples in occupied territory is prohibited under international humanitarian law and human rights law; reminds the Government of its obligations to ensure that Israel, as an occupying power, abides by its legal obligation to protect the civilian population in the occupied territory and administer it for their benefit; believes that these plans will undermine Palestinian presence in the area, further disconnect Palestinian Jerusalem from the West Bank and disrupt the territorial contiguity of the occupied territory; urges the Government to condemn Israel’s actions and policy as flagrant violations of international law; calls for urgent action to be taken to oppose these policies; and further calls on the Government to pressure the State of Israel to immediately scrap the outrageous relocation plans.
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/60
EDM 84
THE BIG RIDE FOR PALESTINIAN CHILDREN
Tabled on 8.6.15 by Sir Gerald Kaufman
That this House salutes Red Spokes for organising The Big Ride, a sponsored bicycle ride by some 1,000 cyclists from Edinburgh to London to be held from 1 to 9 August 2015 to raise money for the Middle East Children’s Alliance, a non-profit organisation which is dedicated to helping deprived children who are war victims in Gaza; and hopes that not only will this venture be financially successful but will draw increased attention to the plight of Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank.
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/84
EDM 95
RECOGNITION OF PALESTINE
Tabled on 9.6.15 by Grahame M Morris
That this House notes the comments of the Israeli Prime Minister that there will be no state of Palestine on his watch and that he has repeatedly made it clear that he will never countenance a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza; further notes that the continued policy of settlement building undermines a two state solution; and calls on the Government to carry out the will of the House of Commons as expressed in the motion passed on 13 October 2014 and join the 137 countries across the world by recognising the State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel so as to secure a negotiated two-state solution which is urgently needed to ensure peace in the region.
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/95
EDM 126
ANNIVERSARY OF ISRAELI BOMBARDMENT OF GAZA
Tabled on 15.6.15 by Jo Cox
That this House recognises that 8 July 2015 will be the first anniversary of the start of the most recent and most devastating Israeli military operation in Gaza and resulted in, according to the UN, more than 2,000 deaths, 1,492 of them civilians and 551 of those, children; notes that there has been no meaningful reconstruction of Gaza which saw over 100,000 homes destroyed or severely damaged in last year’s conflict, that children in particular have suffered the harshest of conditions and that no action has been taken to challenge the violations of international law as exemplified by the security wall, the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian territories, or the illegal blockade and separation of Gaza; calls on the Government to intensify its actions within the international community and towards the Israeli government to resolve the humanitarian and political crisis in Palestine; further calls for a more direct and stringent message to the Israeli government that progress on talks to reach a long-term and peaceful solution must be delivered within an agreed time frame; and calls on the Foreign Secretary to prioritise action through the UN Security Council for a meaningful UN resolution in this regard.
http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2015-16/126
EDM 287
ISRAELI MILITARY TREATMENT OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN
Tabled on 13.07.2015 by Philippa Whitford
That this House condemns the charging of Palestinian children with offences under Israeli military law and their trial in military courts since the occupation of Palestinian territory in 1967; further condemns the arrests, detention and prosecution of around 700 Palestinian children in the Israeli military court system each year; acknowledges the work that Defence for Children International – Palestine do in increasing awareness and providing legal assistance for Palestinian children; condemns the physical violence that more than three-quarters of Palestinian child detainees in 2014 endured in some form between the period of their arrest and interrogation with half of those also strip-searched; notes that during arrest and interrogation, 93 per cent of children were denied access to legal counsel and rarely informed of their rights, particularly their right against self-incrimination; further notes that last year almost all children confessed regardless of guilt to stop further abuse; notes that in 2014 more than 25 per cent of children signed statements in Hebrew despite not understanding the language; notes that between 2012 and 2014 Israeli military, police and security agents held 54 Palestinian children in solitary confinement for interrogation purposes, prior to charging them with any offence, and that in 2014 the average time that an individual child spent in solitary confinement for interrogation purposes was 15 days; and calls on the Government to demand immediate action from the Israeli government to behave in line with international law.
EDM 345 – ISRAEL’S TREATMENT OF NON-JEWISH REFUGEES
Tabled on 20.7.15 by Tommy Sheppard
That this House condemns the abysmally low proportion of non-Jewish, African asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status in Israel; notes with concern that less than one per cent of applications by African refugees are successful; further notes that Israel’s closest neighbours, Jordan and Lebanon, have each accepted millions of refugees fleeing Syria; commends the work of Hotline for Refugees and Migrants Israel, and the Assaf Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel in promoting African refugee rights in Israel; and calls on the Government to demand immediate action from the Israeli government to behave in line with international legal norms and obligations.