The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #164834   Message #3950433
Posted By: Jim Carroll
14-Sep-18 - 11:10 AM
Thread Name: BS: Let's reclaim the centre ground!
Subject: RE: BS: Let's reclaim the centre ground!
Karen
This remarkable multi-signature letter in yesterday's Times makes the Guardian point and as to date nobody who has accused Labour of the crime "that cannot be mentioned" has steadfastly refused to specify what guilty of, it has to be assumed that it is criticism of Israel
Nice to see that the monologues by the Tommy Robinson contingent are still being treated with the contempt they deserve
Good to be back
Jim

Oslo and Palestine
Sir, It is painful now to recall the hope we had in the Oslo Accords. Twenty- five years on, cynicism and resignation rule. The Israeíi occupation since 1967 has become so entrenched that it is hard to see beyond it. There is a better way, one that does not subordinate the right to self-determination of one people to the security and territorial expansion of another.
Trump’s “deal of the century” will not propose equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians. We do. Thus we endorse the Balfour Centenary Declaration (balfourproject.org), and urge the British government to recognise the state of Palestine alongside Israel on pre-June 1967 lines; uphold international law in deed, including the 4th Geneva Convention that Britain drafted and ratified after the Second World War; give practical effect to UN Security Council Resolution 2334, condemning illegal Israeli settlements; and champion the Arab Peace Initiative, offering regional normality to Israel in return for Palestinian freedom.
Britain and France shaped today’s Middle East. By recognising Palestine now, Britain will advance the long-term peaceful coexistence of both peoples in the Holy Land, strengthen regional stability and bolster the UK’s own national security.
EMILY THORNBERRY,
MP; JACK STRAW;
SIR NICHOLAS SOAMES,
MP; SIR HUGO SWIRE,
MP; DOMINIC GRIEVE,
MP; LEILA SANSOUR, CEO, Open Bethlehem;
RAJA SHEHADEH, author and lawyer;
ILAN BARUCH, former Israeli ambassador to South Africa;
ALON LEIL, former director- general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry
Plus a further 70 signatories at thetimes.co.uk/letters