Our UK politicians- where they stand

Contents- please click on link to jump to paragraph header:

The Public

The public supports Palestine; our politicians are too frightened to. This survey of public opinion shows 23% favour Palestine; just 10% favour Israel https://novaramedia.com/2023/07/13/the-public-supports-palestine-why-dont-our-politicians/

Royal Family

The monarch, as head of state, represents us all to the world. It was heartening to hear that QEII did her bit for Palestinian solidarity by never making a state visit to Israel. She annoyed the Israelis to the end. As Haaretz noted in Sept 2022:

‘Over 120 countries, but never Israel: Queen Elisabeth II’s unofficial boycott

In her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II crisscrossed the globe, but purposely skipped Israel. In 1984, during a visit to Jordan, she found the settlements ‘depressing’ and the Air Force’s planes frightening…..

But had she truly wanted to, the Queen could have popped over for a visit. “The sad but inescapable conclusion, therefore, is that she herself is part of this nasty, petty British intrigue to deny Israel that rankling vestige of legitimation that is in their power to bestow or withhold – a royal visit.,” Landau wrote in Haaretz over a decade ago, in an article where he called upon the monarch to “bin these sour-smelling inhibitions and end this boycott.”

Some British royals visited Israel over the years, but Buckingham Palace always went out of its way to make it clear that the visit is neither royal, nor official.’

It’s highly likely that King Charles III feels the same way.

Westminster

However, the UK Parliament does not represent the views of British people on Palestine. As at Feb 2022, UK’s MPs were 359 Conservative, 199 Labour, 45 SNP, 13 Lib Dems, 8 Democratic Unionist Party, 7 Independent, 7 Sinn Fein, 3 Plaid Cymru, 2 Alba Party, 1 Alliance, 1 Green plus the speaker and 2 vacancies.

Infuriatingly, all the parties have adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, bar the Greens. That means their party HQs can try and expel party members who breach that definition. This attack on activists beliefs’ falls outwith the freedom of speech legislation, as political parties are not directly funded by the public purse, so they can expel whosoever they please. Of course, adverse publicity may stay their hand.  

Furthermore, all major parties advocate the doomed two-state solution; read about it on our Israel & Palestine page. [The forthcoming Muslim & Jew on Tour- Beyond Israel aims to reverse this; a single state for all is the only workable solution, viz South Africa.]

Gaza Debate: on the 11th December 2023, the House of Commons discussed Israel & Palestine. Read the contributions of various MPs from all parties to see who spoke in favour of a ceasefire: Israel and Palestine – Hansard – UK Parliament

Our Government is presently ignoring the Amnesty report on Israel apartheid.* The day after the report was published, it launched a consultation on how it can improve trade with Israel, with Liz Truss repeating the line about Israel being “a valued democratic ally”. (Ignoring it isn’t democratic- for most Palestinians under Israeli rule can’t vote in Israeli elections).

*There have in fact been 3 other reports too:

– The UN’s ESCWA report published in March 2017. It was shelved pretty quickly due to enormous pressure from the U.S. and Israel.

– In January 2021 Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has labeled⁺S Israel as an ‘apartheid regime’ for the first time in the group’s 30 year history of documenting human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

– In April 2021 the ESCWA judgment was endorsed and updated by an even more damning report in April 2021 from Human Rights Watch (“A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution”).

Conservative MP Robert Jenrick won his amendment to the Pensions Bill in February 2022 to allow the government to stop public sector pension providers from making ethical investment or disinvestment choices that are not in line with ‘UK foreign and defence policy’. In other words, from divesting from companies complicit in Israeli apartheid. Christine Jardine MP told CABA that a significant number of Labour MPs abstained on the vote, allowing the amendment to pass; More here.

There’s info on the LibDems and Labour below- but sometimes the Tories do surprise us. Tory Peer Sayeeda Warsi was supportive when actress Emma Watson was smeared as antisemitic for supporting Palestine. On Twitter she said “Showing solidarity with Palestinians is not antisemitism.. These constant attempts to stifle any and all support for Palestinians must be called out”.

On 22nd August 2023 the UK Government issued a statement- The UK is extremely alarmed by increasing settler violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: UK statement at the Security Council – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

What You Can Do

Please write to your MP, asking them their views on Israeli apartheid and antisemitism. To give an example, highlight the attacks that Amnesty has suffered for their recent report (see www.tinyurl.com/amnesty-as). To instantly find out who your MP is, and to help you draft the letter, use the Write to Them website. Your MP is duty-bound to respond. (Write to Them will keep reminding them until they do.) You can copy and paste this text into your letter:

Dear     ,

I seek to hear your view on the 2022 Amnesty report, that declares that Israel practises the crime of apartheid. You can see their 15-minute video summarising the findings, the “Israel Palestine Apartheid Explainer”, at www.tinyurl.com/amnesty-israel

Amnesty has been been attacked as antisemitic (see www.tinyurl.com/amnesty-as) for publishing this report. According to the OED, antisemitism is “hostility to or prejudice against Jewish people” but Amnesty has been careful to phrase its report as a criticism of Israel, and many Jews do not support Israel.

Indeed, I’m very concerned about ongoing attacks on all those that support Palestine. We have been told antisemitism is everywhere, but I think these slurs come from those who want to maintain the status quo in Israel. Therefore I also seek to hear your views on the attacks that Amnesty has suffered. Do you agree that this is an example of “bogus antisemitism”?

I believe that when our political parties adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism, rather than rely on the OED one, our politicians became fearful of pointing out that Israel practices racism. You can find out more about how those who criticize Israel have been pilloried as anti-Semites at the website www.onepalestine.land

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely, etc

NB It will strengthen your case if you add more of your own opinions. To help us compile politician’s views, please send their responses onto us at info@onepalestine.land

Conservatives

The Conservatives support Israel (Balfour was a Tory, after all) and it is said that 80% of their MPs are in the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFoI). Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sided with Israel (see Sunak condemned for pledge to vote against Palestine in key UN vote – Middle East Monitor )

Boris Johnson, Priti Patel, Sajid Javid are key players (Boris was quick to dismiss “The Lobby” programmes when he was Foreign Secretary, even though Tory MPs sympathetic to Palestine were being targeted by Israel too). A list of those whom are known to be in CFoI are at the foot of this page.

The Tories are planning to make it unlawful for local authorities to boycott Israel. They believe, by so doing, they will deal a mortal blow to the BDS movement. In response, on the 26th April, 45 British civil society groups came together under the Right to Boycott | Protect the right to boycott website and issued a joint statement opposing the Government’s plans. They include a diverse range of activists- Friends of Al Aqsa; Israeli Committee against House Demolitions UK; Methodist Church in Britain; Quakers in Britain; Muslim Association of Britain; National Union of Students; Unison; Unite; RMT; PCS; CWU; Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union; Greenpeace UK; War on Want; CND; War on Want; Labour and Palestine; Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JJP).

British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine was “racist” and “anti-Semitic”. In June 2023, the Tories began forcing their anti-BDS bill through Parliament. The “Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill” has seen Labour shamefully abstaining; the Bill is likely to pass and will prevent publicly-funded bodies choosing to boycott Israeli products. More here and here

The Scottish Government, under SNP leader and First Minister Humza Yousaf, declared in August 2023 that it would oppose the legislation- see Scottish Government to oppose consent to ‘anti-boycott’ bill | Statements | About SPSC | Info | Articles (scottishpsc.org.uk)

But not all Tory MPs are alike: Pauline Lathan OBE MP for Mid-Derbyshire is supportive of Palestine. Crispin Blunt MP is the most prominent Conservative supporter, who said: “The BDS movement is a non-violent and peaceful response to an illegal occupation, I will not be supporting this bill.”

Research shows prejudice towards minorities in general (including Jews) was considerably higher in the Conservative Party (see here). 

The appointment of ex-Prime Minister David Cameron as Foreign Secretary means more business as usual.

Lib Dems

The 2021 Conference saw the party passing a motion calling for a radical new approach on Israel and Palestine. Christine Jardine MP declared “The Lib Dems want more trade with Israel and with Palestine, more resources dedicated towards peace – via the creation of an International Peace fund to foster trust between communities, while also advocating for a ban on UK trade with the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. 
The UK has condemned the settlements. It distinguishes between the settlements and the sovereign territory of Israel in its trade policy. But, despite continued expansion, the UK and the international community does nothing. 
The new Liberal Democrat policy is a legal ban of goods, not a boycott, just as the UK Government already prohibits goods from occupied Crimea from entering the UK.”

In the first reading of the anti-BDS legislation of 3rd July 2023; Labour MPs almost all abstained. The Lib Dems, on the other hand, voted against. At present the Lib Dems appear to be more pro-Palestine than Labour.

SNP

The SNP generally favour Palestine.  They are sensitive to the evils of colonisation and, like the Irish, see a parallel between Israel’s colonisation of Palestine and England’s colonial rule of world affairs, not least its role in foisting Israel on Palestine itself. They have pledged to oppose the passage of the Priti Patell’s Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions Bill.

Tommy Sheppard MP (Edinburgh East) and Dr Philippa Whitford MP (Ayrshire Central) have been great supporters of the campaign to get Edinburgh twinned with Gaza City. Their letters of support can be seen here.

In August 2023, Westminster’s anti-boycott bill was rejected by the Scottish Government Scottish Government rejects Tory boycott bill which “backs Israel’s apartheid regime” (theferret.scot)

Greens

The Party’s only MP, Caroline Lucas, appears to support the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, which is unfortunate, since most Greens oppose it. At their 2021 Conference, Lucas succeeded in stopping the Green conference from voting on a motion which would have committed the Greens to opposing the IHRA Definition- instead using her authority as MP to try to force Conference to vote on her own, unpopular motion in favour of the IHRA Definition.

In the end, neither motions were discussed. Read more in this Electronic Intifada article of March 2021. What is important, though, is that the Greens remain the only mainstream political party not to have adopted the IHRA Definition, which immediately sets this Party’s ethical stance on Palestine to be head and shoulders above the rest (notwithstanding a naive, easily-fooled MP).

Labour

[There are sections about Labour’s Antisemitism Data and the Impact of the IHRA on Labour on our IHRA page here. ]

In 2018 Israeli historian and socialist activist Ilan Pappé stated that “Corbyn is not an anti-Semite and the Labour Party, until his election, was a pro-Israeli bastion…” and “there is anti-Semitism among all British parties – and much more on the right than on the left.” It transpires that Parliamentary Labour was a pro-Israeli bastion before Corbyn and is one yet again under Starmer’s command.

Also see our post of 11th April 2022 Starmer denies Israel is apartheid, then removes You-tube conference motion supporting Palestine. Also read this from Sept 25th 2023 Keir Starmer believes anti-Zionism is antisemitism, Israeli politician reveals – The Jewish Chronicle (thejc.com)

It’s worth noting that claims of anti-Semitism were used as cover by Labour’s right-wing to destabilise Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership: for a clearer understanding of how he and Chris Williamson were targeted, read “The Great Antisemitism Smear Campaign“

The Labour Party recently appointed a former Israeli military spy, Assaf Kaplan, to work in the office of leader Keir Starmer; this is truly extraordinary in many different regards. Kaplan’s online CV points to his history with the Israeli army’s military intelligence division, and a past employment profile highlights his years spent in the notorious Unit 8200F, which has a long and ugly record of surveillance of Palestinians.

So – Labour MPs frequently do not reflect the views of the membership. But there are Labour MPs who speak out. Labour MP Julie Elliot drew parallels between Palestine and Ukraine (and was predictably attacked for so doing). Labour MP Ian Murray of Edinburgh South is positive about Edinburgh twinning with Gaza.

Both Corbyn and Diane Abbott have long supported Palestine – but both are are suspended as Labour MPs Labour suspends first Black woman MP Abbott for highlighting party’s hierarchy of racism – SKWAWKBOX

British MP Andy McDonald: “I’ll vote against it [the Anti-Boycott Bill] at every stage. No amount of amendments will change it from being a fundamentally appalling bill.”

Naz Shah MP for Leeds is a well-known Palestine supporter.

Others are not supportive at all: Wes Streeting MP featured in this Streeting, LFI slammed for happy tweets from Israel with no mention of murdered journalist – SKWAWKBOX

Eventually Streeting was forced to say something.. Mealy-mouthed response from Labour’s Streeting after Israelis shoot Palestinian reporter dead | Vox Political (voxpoliticalonline.com)

Lisa Nandy MP is also pro-Israeli – As Israel smashes up Jenin, its British apologists are enabling this violence | Middle East Eye

In the November 2023 onslaught of Gaza, with Israel’s indiscriminate bombing campaign that has killed over 10,000 Gazans, Sir Keir Starmer told his MPs to vote against the SNP amendment to the King’s speech on 15th November, which calls for a ceasefire- see https://skwawkbox.org/2023/11/10/starmer-orders-mps-to-vote-against-snp-ceasefire-motion/– thus placing Labour firmly on the side of Israel, which wants the freedom to bomb Gaza for as long as it chooses.

On the 15th Nov, these are the independents who voted for a ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza in this motion:

– and these are the 56 Labour MPs (there are 243 Labour MPs in all):

Tahir Ali
Rosena Allin-Khan
Paula Barker
Apsana Begum
Clive Betts
Paul Blomfield
Karen Buck
Richard Burgon
Dawn Butler
Ian Byrne
Liam Byrne
Dan Carden
Sarah Champion
Stella Creasey
Jon Cruddas
Judith Cummins
Marsha de Cordova
Peter Dowd
Julie Elliott
Mary Kelly Foy
Barry Gardiner
Margaret Greenwood
Fabian Hamilton
Kate Hollern
Rachel Hopkins
Rupa Huq
Imran Hussain
Afzal Khan
Ian Lavery
Emma Lewell-Buck
Clive Lewis
Rebecca Long Bailey
Khalid Mahmood
Rachael Maskell
John McDonnell
Ian Mearns
Grahame Morris
Kate Osamor
Kate Osborne
Sarah Owen
Jess Phillips
Yasmin Qureshi
Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Lloyd Russell-Moyle
Naz Shah*
Andy Slaughter
Cat Smith
Alex Sobel
Zarah Sultana
Sam Tarry
Stephen Timms
Jon Trickett
Valerie Vaz
Nadia Whittome
Beth Winter
Mohammad Yasin

Labour Conference Motions for Palestine

At Conference, Labour members annually call for support for Palestine and complain about Israel’s land-grabs. Watch Colin Monehen’s incredible speech to Labour Conference on 25th Sept 2018, when he was welcomed by a sea of Palestinian flags and got a standing ovation. The Party then voted to freeze arms sales to Israel; Palestinians had urged Labour to end UK complicity in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians, most critically by adopting a military embargo [in the video, note the hand of the JLM- Rea Wolfson can be heard interrupting, trying to shut Monehen up.]

In 2019, Labour Conference passed a motion affirming Palestinians’ Right to Return to the homes they lost in the Nakba: Labour votes for Palestinian right to return. In 2021, Conference called for an end to Israeli apartheid; Jawad Khan from Young Labour, Wolverhampton South West CLP moved the motion, which included this text:

“Conference also notes the unequivocal 2021 reports by by B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch that conclude unequivocally that Israel is practising the crime of apartheid as defined by the UN.

Conference welcomes the International Criminal Court decision to hold an inquiry into abuses committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 2014.

Conference resolves that action is needed now due to Israel’s continuing illegal actions and that Labour should adhere to an ethical policy on all UK trade with Israel, including stopping any arms trade used to violate Palestinian human rights and trade with illegal Israeli settlements.

Conference resolves to support “effective measures” including sanctions, as called for by Palestinian civil society, against actions by the Israeli government that are illegal according to international law; in particular to ensure that Israel stops the building of settlements, reverses any annexation, ends the occupation of the West Bank, the blockade of Gaza, brings down the Wall and respects the right of Palestinian people, as enshrined in international law, to return to their homes.”

Unfortunately our MPs in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) frequently ignore Conference motions like this when it comes to their manifesto, shying away from actions that might attract negative press coverage. The PLP have largely ostracised Corbyn for his concerns about bogus antisemitism, though he made many efforts to accommodate Zionists (see our Corbyn’s Capitulation page). To get a sense of the prevailing PLP view, here’s what happened around the anti-apartheid motion, as reported by Labour List:

“Moving the motion, Young Labour’s Jawad Khan said that the motion would “bring us one step closer to finally ending the shameful century of British complicity and the denial of the right to self-determination, liberation and return”.

Also addressing the annual party gathering ahead of the vote this afternoon, Labour Friends of Israel chair Steve McCabe argued that the motion was “too shouty, too angry, too one-sided and not at all focused on the search for peace”.

He told the conference delegates that it was “completely hostile to the people of Israel”, adding: “If Labour had adopted this approach in Northern Ireland, we would never have got to the Good Friday agreement.”

Commenting after the vote, McCabe said: “This motion is completely unacceptable, grossly inaccurate and morally repugnant. It does not represent Labour’s longstanding policy in support of a two-state solution, backs the toxic BDS movement, which singles out the world’s only Jewish state and propagates the apartheid smear.

“It will undermine the process of rebuilding Labour’s relationship with Britain’s Jews and with Israeli progressives who are fighting for peace, coexistence and reconciliation. This vote shows that there are still too many in the party who remain unhealthily obsessed with Israel. We must continue to work to restore our party’s proud tradition of support for Jewish self-determination and the state of Israel.”

Labour Friends of Israel

Whilst Labour continues to be the only party likely to govern the UK whose members support BDS, the fear is that Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) will force the Party to support Tory attempts to outlaw it. Of Labour’s 199 MPs, 36% are in LFI including many highly influential ones. There are 72 Labour MPs in LFl, including party leader Keir Starmer; in Nov 2021, Starmer said “We will continue to support Israel’s rumbustious democracy, its independent judiciary and its commitment to the rule of law”. He recently said he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Recently he shared a platform with Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely where he denounced all activism that favours boycotts, even those targeting Israel’s illegal settlements. Novara media’s 13 minute piece of 2022 pulls Starmer’s position apart – Keir Starmer Gives RACIST Speech To Labour Friends Of Israel – YouTube

Many others fight for Israel; Wes Streeting MP is particularly antagonistic to those who criticise it. Rachel Reeves MP celebrates the expulsions of members who breach the IHRA Definition. Dame Margaret Hodge MP is well known for using bogus anstisemitism in her attacks on Corbyn . Nick Thomas-Symonds MP and Lisa Nandy MP are, too.

The MPs supporting LFI are listed in the LFI website and at the end of this page. If you live in their constituency, you can help by writing to them.

Labour’s decline since 2018

The Labour Party, which had around 590,000 members at the peak of Corbyn’s popularity, adopted the full IHRA definition in Sept 2018 (against Corbyn’s wishes- he was outvoted by his National Executive Committee (NEC)). Over the following 18 months Labour HQ began investigating and suspending members who pointed out Israel was a racist endeavour. After Corbyn’s defeat in the Dec 2019 General Election (which was partly caused by the media hype around bogus antisemitism), Sir Keir Starmer took over, and exclusions mushroomed. Many Party members resigned upon being investigated, rather than suffer the ignominy of expulsion. Since Dec 2019 up until Feb 2022 around 300,000 members have left the Party. Rachel Reeves MP said. “It was a “good thing Labour membership was dropping as it allowed the party to shed unwelcome supporters and rid itself of the stain of anti-Semitism”. She is vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel.

Sadly, there are many in the PLP that attack campaigners for Palestine and utilise antisemitic slurs to undermine the BDS movement.

Attacking Chris Williamson MP

For a clear idea of how Labour politicians vote on bogus antisemitism, their decision to suspend Chris Williamson MP in Feb 2019, when he said Labour had “given too much ground” in the face of criticism over antisemitism, provides a good indication of who stands where. On the 27th June 2019, 60 Labour MPs and peers issued a statement attacking Chris Williamson’s re-instatement in the Labour Party. These MPs believed Chris to be antisemitic. They displayed extremely poor judgement, for he is about as antisemitic as a labrador puppy. They should be ashamed. These people were:

Those 60 Labour MPs were:

*= LFI : At least 23 of these MPs are known LFI supporters- the rest represent right-wingers unsupportive of Corbyn (more in this Socialism Today article). See the Chris Williamson court proceedings here 10th Oct 2019

Supporting Medical Aid for Palestine

So before the last election, which MPs stood for Palestine? This Early Day Motion HEALTH WORKERS IN GAZA EDM #2604 , tabled 15th July 2019 declares: “That this House condemns the killing of healthcare workers in Gaza and in particular the recent killing of Gaza paramedic Mohammed al-Jedaili, the fifth Palestinian health worker to be killed by Israeli forces in just over a year; notes that according to the World Health Organisation more than 750 health workers in Gaza were also injured between 30 March 2018 and 31 May 2019; and calls on the Government to take diplomatic steps to ensure that medical workers in Gaza can perform their humanitarian functions without risk of attack and to request an investigation which complies with international standards of independence, impartiality, promptness, thoroughness, and transparency into those deaths.” Labour MPs that signed the motion were:

Somewhat bizzarely, Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) signed both the attack on Chris and this one. So who’s side is she on? Virendra Sharma, Mary Glindon and John Grogan are members of the Friends of Israel. Possibly they seek to “support both sides”. Depressing..

In addition, Helen Hayes, Labour MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, asked Dr Murrison what action the UK is taking “to help ensure that when attacks on humanitarian workers occur in Gaza those responsible for those attacks are held to account.” Labour MPs Barry Sheerman and Virendra Sharma both asked the Minister “what assessment he has made of the extent to which Israel’s internal investigations into the killings of Palestinian health workers comply with international standards of (a) independence, (b) impartiality, (c) promptness, (d) thoroughness and (e) transparency.”

Politicians and Journalists are fearful of criticising Israel

Whilst Labour continues to be the only party likely to govern that might criticise Israel, our UK politicians are, across the board, terrified of criticising the state that the UK was instrumental in creating- atrocities such as the attack on Gaza in May 2021 left MPs silent.

Of course, the media is now fearful of criticising Israel too. BBC reporters have declared that as soon as they publish stories that show Israelis as aggressors, the “phone rings off the hook” with irate callers accusing them of bias. Zionists in the UK have a well-organised network which they use to bombard newsdesks if they sense criticism of the motherland. It makes publishing outlets fearful of reporting ongoing human rights violations there. An example of how BBC “balance” presently around reporting on Israel actually favours Israel can be found in this item from August 2021: “Israel demands Palestinians pay rent to stay in their Sheikh Jarrah homes. BBC frames it as their fault for rejecting ‘offer’”

Our greatest task is to continually point out to politicians and the media that it is not antisemitic to say that Israel is an apartheid state and should suffer sanctions for its crimes. And we must protect ourselves from attack when we are pilloried for so doing. Promoting One Democratic Palestine to influential people will be important until Palestinians are free from the apartheid regime our country helped create.

The Conservative Politicians in CFoI

Although 80% of Tory MPs are in CFoI, their names are not published. But these are the people in Government who need to learn most about the politicised and fraudulent IHRA Definition of Antisemitism.

The Chairman of the CFoI Parliamentary Group is Stephen Crabb. Officers include David Burrowes, Robert Halfon, Priti Patel and Lee Scott. Other leading members of CFoI include Iain Duncan Smith, Graham Brady (Chairman of the 1922 Committee), and ex- MPs Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Lord William Hague, Alistair Burt, Richard Harrington, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Alistair Burt and David Cameron.

MPs who we know are members of Conservative Friends of Israel include: (if you live in their constituency, please write to them about Israeli apartheid at every opportunity)

CFoI in the Lords:

The EU is confused, too, about the difference between anti-Zionism and antisemitism; see EU says it’s anti-Semitic to call Israel an apartheid state | The Electronic Intifada

Run a letter-writing Campaign to target a politician or policy-maker

The story goes about politicians is that if they get one email about a subject, they put it in the trash; if they get two they file them; if they get three they do something about it.

There is a quick and simple way to encourage lots of people to lobby a particular politician, using the online tool called the Mail To Code Generator.

In this example, I’ll show you how to lobby the Israeli Prime Minister & Prison Service over his incarceration of Ahmed Manasra.

The Palestinian short film, titled “Empty Place”, spotlit the story of 20-year-old Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Manasra, who was arrested in 2015 at the age of 13, was distributed entirely through social media platforms has attracted anger from various online Israeli activists. The full story and video can be viewed on Palestine Online here and on Middle East Monitor here

So- to help Ahmed, we’ll set up a tool to get our supporters to write to Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennet, whilst copying in the UK- Israeli Ambassador (Mrs Tzipi Hotovely)  and Haaretz newspaper. Also blind copying in Husam Zomlot, UK -Palestinian Ambassador.

First google their contact details, to get:

nbennett@knesset.gov.il*; consul-sec@london.mfa.gov.il ; English@haaretz.co.il ; n.albazi@palmissionuk.org ; info@gov.il ; YLapid@knesset.gov.il

[* PS it’s better to use the one for the Prison Service ips@mail.gov.il as Bennet’s mailbox is full]

Then go to this website: https://mailtolinkgenerator.com/

to get:

Now complete the fields as follows:

Now click on the yellow box saying “Generate my mailto Link”, to get:

If you have a website use the HTML code.

Otherwise, copy the text in the Mailto link box; you can save it in a notepad file if you like, for later use.

Otherwise-

If you have a mailing list and you want to ask those people to write to Bennett, do a test by starting an email, then look at the email you will be sending:

Hi Palestine Supporter,

Please can you write to the Israeli Prime Minister calling for the release of Ahmed Manasra etc. To do this please click on Naftali Bennett- Release Ahmed Manasra Now

Thanks

Now highlight the text Naftali Bennett- Release Ahmed Manasra Now and go to the Link >> Insert Link function in the menu bar at the top of your email screen

In the Address box, paste in the text you copied earlier from the Code Generator “Mailto link” field.

Click OK, to get your Yair Lapid- Release Ahmed Manasra Now link text displayed as a hyperlink:

Now send your email.

When your supporter gets the email it will look like this:

They just need to add their own name and click send.

In this particular situation, it looks like a lot of folk have been emailing Mr Bennett, as I got this message:

The moral of the story is- try our our mailto code generator once on yourself – or a friend – to make sure everything is working properly, before you send it off to 100 supporters!

PS If you use the HTML code in the code generator, paste it into your website as follows:

Naftali Bennett- Release Ahmed Manasra now