Some of our local members joined a 4 December members’ webinar with Layla Moran and Ed Davey on the Lib Dem response to the conflict in Gaza and Israel. (Members’ Seminar on the Israel-Gaza Conflict with Sir Ed Davey MP and Layla Moran MP.) It included a summary of the three main points of our position, which are:

1. Work towards a two-state solution
2. Remove Hamas control of Gaza
3. Implement a ceasefire to start work on 1 and 2
   It will be difficult negotiations, as neither Hamas nor the Netanyahu government are interested in a two-state solution, but people have to try, or things will just get worse.
   * Hamas does not recognise Israel’s right to exist, and Netanyahu has undermined a two-state solution ever since first coming to power after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was murdered by a Jewish extremist after attending a peace rally in 1995.

Neither of the two amendments to the King’s Speech included both a ceasefire and work towards a two-state solution, and were more interested in playing Party political games. (This was followed by the recent SNP debate in Parliament on a ceasefire in Gaza, which descended into chaos.)
Sadly, countries such as China, Iran, and Russia are already trying to use the current situation to increase their influence in the region. It has also seen an alarming rise in antisemitism and Islamophobia, with the use of inflammatory language for Party political expedience.

Our leader, Ed Davey, also noted that our policy is that Jewish settlements in the West Bank are illegal, and that we have condemned settler violence as well as the terrorism of Hamas fighters. Ed also reaffirmed our existing policy, which includes:

• Officially recognise the independent state of Palestine, condemn violence on all sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and support Israel’s right to security. We remain committed to a negotiated peace settlement, which includes a two-state solution.
• Affirms that given the 54 year old Israeli occupation and that, under international law, occupation is meant to be temporary, the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal under international law.

Layla also later updated members on the plight of her extended family who have been forced to take refuge in a church, while Israeli tanks baracade them in and IDF snipers shoot at anyone trying to get to safety.

Moran shares harrowing account of family in Gaza

You can read our most recent policy statement, passed at our Autumn conference in 2021, on Israel and Palestine here.

Towards a Lasting Peace in Israel and Palestine

February Update

Here is the Lib Dem amendment to the SNP disingenuous motion, in February 2024, calling for a ceasefire, but not for work towards a solution. It was a missed opportunity for MPs to pass a motion most could accept, but both the SNP and Conservatives more interested in petty political grandstanding than making progress. While some MPs managed to strike a balanced tone, it soon descended into childish name-calling and attempts to embarrass political opponents that showed Parliament at its worst.

We also agree with Amnesty International that Israel is not complying with the provisional order that it take immediate and effective measures to protect Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip from the risk of genocide. We believe Hamas’ barbarous attack in October was intended to provoke the heavy-handed response from the Netanyahu government, and that the international community needs to do more to prevent any genocide.
Israel defying ICJ ruling to prevent genocide by failing to allow adequate humanitarian aid to reach Gaza