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UN expert Albanese urges UK to consider ban on settlement goods

newsSep 7, 202614436

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese told the Guardian that the UK’s planned ban on trade with unlawful Israeli settlements is “important” but must be part of a “true paradigm shift” rather than a symbolic move. Albanese said a ban limited to goods such as agricultural products and cosmetics would be insufficient because those items are a fraction of what sustains the occupation and are easily absorbed by Israel. She urged the UK to extend measures to services, progressively suspend British intelligence cooperation, halt all arms licensing, and review unexamined flights out of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. Albanese invoked the 2024 ICJ advisory opinion, saying states have an obligation not to recognise or assist the unlawfulness of Israel’s presence in the occupied territories. The comments came as foreign secretary Ed Miliband prepared to announce details of the policy, a shift Palestinians in the UK are withholding judgment on until the fine print appears, and after US ambassador Mike Huckabee accused Downing Street of “Jew hatred,” a claim the article notes did not acknowledge that Miliband is Jewish. Albanese warned that narrow measures that leave enforcement and military cooperation untouched will over time be seen as “not amounting to a reckoning, but a press release.”

Jenny Difficult-Frecklington-Jones #IStandWithPalestine🍉🍉
@joneshowdareyou.bsky.social

Francesca Albanese— "Tens of thousands tortured "Dozens of thousands killed "Hundreds of thousands wounded "Many left limbless "Countless orphans "Nearly 2M left homeless "And the "first and foremost" issue is the damage done to an apartheid state by its genocidaire-in-chief?" [Screenshot only 👇🏻]

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