Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has welcomed a joint statement by the foreign ministers of 12 Western countries on measures against illegal Israeli settlements, describing the move as an overdue shift in the approach of several Western governments.
He said the September 8 statement must now be followed by firm implementation, urging the countries involved to use their diplomatic and economic influence over Israel to push for an end to settlement expansion and the forced displacement of Palestinians.
“These governments should use their considerable diplomatic and economic leverage over Israel to press for an end to settlement expansion and forced displacement, accountability for the devastation inflicted on Gaza and unimpeded humanitarian access,” he said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Anwar also highlighted Britain, Canada and France’s plans to introduce measures banning trade in goods from Israeli settlements, joining several European countries that have already taken similar steps.
He also noted remarks by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband in the House of Commons, in which the United Kingdom formally recognised the unlawfulness of the Israeli occupation as a whole.
Anwar said Britain had also acknowledged that ethnic cleansing of Palestinians was taking place in parts of the West Bank at the hands of what Miliband described as “settler terrorists”.
“These are significant acknowledgements, grounded in international law and in the realities confronting the Palestinian people,” he said.
Anwar called on the international community to go beyond statements and adopt concrete, binding measures to uphold international law, protect Palestinian rights and secure a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
The 12 countries — Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK — said they intended to introduce national measures or support European restrictions on trade in goods from settlements deemed illegal under international law.
They also said they were actively considering such restrictions and other measures in accordance with their respective national procedures.
