Balfour Project dismayed at PM's rejection of ICC investigation into Israel

Source: Balfour Project

The Balfour Project says it has "read with sadness and dismay" the concluding words in the Prime Minister's letter to the Conservative Friends of Israel of 9 April 2021. These words assert that "Palestine is not a sovereign State" and that the investigation by the ICC "gives the impression of being a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK's." Neither assertion holds water. Each is morally and legally bankrupt. Balfour Project commends the statement made by a number of British charities and NGOs (including CAFOD, Christian Aid and the Amos Trust) in response, and adds the following comments.

The official policy of HM Government on Palestinian statehood is set out in a statement by Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmed in the House of Lords on 7 June 2018: "We will formally recognise the State of Palestine when we believe it best serves the cause of peace." In international law, recognition of one sovereign State by another is an act of political will that lies entirely in the discretion of the recognising State. Lord Ahmed's statement implied an acknowledgement on the part of the Government that Palestine already is a sovereign State. The formal act of British recognition might be withheld for the time being, but Lord Ahmed clearly envisaged it as following in due course at the time when the Government deemed most opportune for peace. It's when, not if -the Balfour Project has consistently urged formal UK recognition now. That urgent call remains valid.

Lord Ahmed's statement was not made in a vacuum. By UNGA67/19 of 29 November 2012, Palestine had been accepted as a sovereign State by the United Nations as a non-member observer State. 139 member States of the UN as well as the Vatican have accorded recognition to Palestine as a fellow sovereign State. In October 2014, a non-binding vote of the House of Commons called on the Government to recognise Palestine alongside Israel as a contribution to negotiating a two-state solution. The vote in favour was by 276 to 14.

Britain today seeks to portray itself as a global power, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, keen to exert itself as a positive force in the world and to uphold the rules-based international order. The Prime Minister's assertion that Britain no longer accepts that Palestine is a State, albeit one to which Her Majesty's Government may not yet have accorded recognition, is truly shocking. The Government should correct the record in Parliament as a matter of urgency. But will it?

The Prime Minister's assertion that the ICC investigation "gives the impression of being a partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK's" beggars belief. It is truly bizarre that this assertion should be contained in a letter that also asserts that the UK is "a strong supporter of the ICC in line with its founding statute" and refers to the UK's "enduring commitment to strengthening the Court and serving international justice". Both states, the UK and Palestine, have signed up to the ICC's founding statute. Our Government made no objection when Palestine did so. It is both wrong and harmful of the Prime Minister to seek to disparage an impending investigation by the Court by implying that the findings of that investigation will be prejudiced. Evidently, he is doing this at the behest of a state which is a friend and ally. No state, friend or foe, is above the law.

Since becoming Prime Minister, Mr Johnson's Government has been censured by the U.K. Supreme Court for illegally purporting to prorogue Parliament, and has introduced legislation that it admitted would break an international treaty "in a specific and limited way". The relevant legislative provisions were later withdrawn, partly as a result of international pressure, but the United Kingdom's reputation as an upholder of the international rule of law suffered a severe blow. Unless swiftly corrected, the Prime Minister's misguided assertions will harm the United Kingdom's reputation even further.

Too much damage has already been done.

The statement is signed by John McHugo, Trustee, Balfour Project

LINKS

British Charities statement condemning PM's statement - https://balfourproject.org/british-activists-and-charities-condemn-pm-statement/

Balfour Project - https://balfourproject.org/