Statement on current situation in Palestine and Israel

All members of the British Palestine Friendship and Twinning Network (BPFTN) stand in support with the people of Palestine and, in particular, our friends in Palestine who are linked with our Friendship and Twinning groups. 

While the loss of any civilian life, Israeli and Palestinian, is a tragedy, we are acutely aware through our respective group links with towns and villages throughout the West Bank and Gaza of how Palestinians and their children under occupation suffer the daily risk of being killed, injured and imprisoned. British and other Western governments have remained silent, allowing the Israeli government to continue breaking international law with its systematic oppression of the Palestinian people, stealing of Palestinian land and homes, and enabling settler militias to go unchecked in their violent attacks on Palestinian communities, businesses, farmland and religious sites.    

We mourn the loss of both Israeli and Palestinian lives but deplore the response of Western governments in their one - sided support of the Israeli government, while totally ignoring the context and root causes leading to this crisis and its impact on the Palestinian people. The actions against Israel were sadly entirely predictable with the current Israeli government’s more extreme approach in its oppressive policies towards the Palestinian people living in the West Bank and under siege in Gaza. 

Therefore, while British and Western governments continue their support of the Israeli government and its disproportionate response, ignoring the basic human rights of Palestinians, it seems the world will now witness a human catastrophe unfolding. Over 2 million trapped Palestinians, a significant proportion being children, will now be subjected to collective punishment with electricity, water and food supplies cut off and being killed and injured by aerial bombardment.  

Our BPFTN groups will be doing everything in their power to provide support and solidarity with our partners and friends in towns and villages throughout Palestine. We will continue our work together and hope that justice and equal rights for Palestinians will prevail. We believe this to be the only way that peaceful co-existence of all citizens, both Palestinian and Israeli can be achieved.