Israeli settlements “wicked cocktail” of occupation and illegality says UK MP

Israeli settlements “wicked cocktail” of occupation and illegality says UK MP

Published time: October 14, 2014

Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are a “wicked cocktail” of occupation and illegality and similar to former apartheid South Africa, a UK MP said. His comments come as British MPs vote to recognize an independent Palestinian state.

“Occupation, annexation, illegality, negligence, complicity: this is a wicked cocktail which brings shame to the government of Israel,” former Tory minister Sir Alan Duncan said on Tuesday. “It would appear that on the West Bank of the Jordan the rule of international law has been shelved.”

“Settlement endorsement, meaning the denial that they are illegal and the support for their consequences, is a form of extremism which we should not tolerate,” he said in a speech to the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) in London.

He added, “Israeli settlements are the worst, most destructive, aspect of the military occupation, an occupation which has become the longest in modern international relations.”

Duncan was one of 274 MPs who overwhelmingly approved a Commons motion urging the British government to recognize Palestine as a state on Monday night. The symbolic vote came after Sweden announced that it will also recognize a Palestinian state.

Israel quickly condemned the result.

“Premature international recognition sends a troubling message to the Palestinian leadership that they can evade the tough choices that both sides have to make,” Israel’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

However, this vote could exemplify a shift in public opinion in the UK and beyond towards Israel, the UK ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, said.

“Israel lost support after this summer’s conflict, and after the series of announcements on settlements,” Gould told Israeli radio. “This parliamentary vote is a sign of the way the wind is blowing, and will continue to blow without any progress towards peace.”

Duncan, a former international development minister, was appointed the Prime Minister’s envoy to Oman and Yemen after leaving government.

Read more here:
[link to rt.com]