KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has welcomed a Sept. 8 joint statement by foreign ministers from 12 Western countries regarding measures against illegal Israeli settlements.
He said the steps represent an overdue shift in policy by several Western governments and must now be backed by firm implementation.
“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 Friday.
Anwar noted in particular that Britain, Canada, and France would introduce measures to ban trade in settlement goods, joining several European nations that have already implemented the ban.
“I also recognise the significance of the statement by British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband to the House of Commons. The United Kingdom has now formally recognised the unlawfulness of the Israeli occupation as a whole.
“It has also acknowledged that ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is taking place in areas of the West Bank at the hands of what Mr Miliband rightly calls ‘settler terrorists.’ These are significant acknowledgements, grounded in international law and in the realities confronting the Palestinian people,” he said as quoted by Bernama.
Meanwhile, Anwar called on the international community to move beyond statements towards concrete, binding measures that uphold international law, protect Palestinian rights, and secure a just, lasting peace in the Middle East.
Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the UK have confirmed their intention to introduce national or support European restrictions on trade in goods from settlements deemed illegal under international law, or indicated they are actively considering such measures in accordance with national procedures.
