CAA makes submission to Foreign Affairs Committee

Campaign Against Antisemitism has made a submission to the Foreign Affairs Committee, following calls for evidence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The full submission can be read here.

We made the following recommendations to the Committee:

• The Government should treat Hamas as an illegitimate entity and ensure that any policy that it pursues ultimately aims towards a world in which Hamas does not exist. It would be unconscionable for the British Government to risk appearing to endorse a group that is proscribed in the UK as a respectable partner abroad.
• The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) must make greater efforts to ensure the safe and swift return of all of the remaining hostages. This must be undertaken in a way that does not legitimise or empower Hamas, especially through pressure on Iran, Qatar and Egypt, all of which have relations with and leverage over Hamas.
• All of the organisations that were involved in the 7th October 2023 attack must be proscribed in full under the Terrorism Act 2000.
• Hamas is an offshoot of the Society of the Muslim Brothers, popularly known as the Muslim Brotherhood. This organisation is proscribed in a number of countries, and the UK should follow suit.
• Ansar Allah (the Houthis) is a terror group backed by Iran with a long history of violent attacks in a number of different countries, and whose slogan is “Death to America, Death to Israel, Damn the Jews.” The Houthis must be proscribed in full under the Terrorism Act 2000.
• The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the US, Canada, Israel, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Britain must finally follow suit, in fulfilment of Labour’s pre-election pledge.
• Any British funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) must be carefully vetted to ensure that it does not directly or indirectly benefit terrorist organisations or promote antisemitism, in addition to rigorous safeguards against corruption. The FCDO must disclose whether legal advice was sought or obtained in relation to the decision to resume funding to UNRWA, and must publish a summary of the legal advice. British Jews in particular have a clear and significant interest in understanding how the British Government is guaranteeing that funds to UNRWA are not being used to directly or indirectly benefit terrorist organisations or promote antisemitism.

The full submission can be read here.