Professor Neve Gordon speaks to the Middle East Monitor about what the new Labour government means for the UK's Israel-Palestine policy.
David Lammy with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Israel, 14 July 2024. Image from Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office - Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits Israel, CC BY 2.0, Link to photo on Wikicommons.
UK Foreign Secretary, David Lammy has called for an immediate ceasefire and has resumed fudning for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), following his recent visit to Israel and West Bank. This has sparked discussions of whether this marks a shift in Britain's stance.
“It is fairly obvious that at least some of his policies will differ from those of the Conservative government,” said Neve Gordon, an Israeli Professor of International Law and Human Rights at Queen Mary University of London. Pointing to Lammy's descision to resume funding to the UNRWA, he said: “Given the danger of famine and the breakdown of all life-saving and life-sustaining infrastructures in Gaza, this decision is informed by his notion of progressive realism.”
Read the full article in the Middle East Monitor.