Printed On 10 Sep 2026
Over my lifetime, it’s been my privilege to go to Palestine on a number of totally different events. I’ve witnessed what Palestinians endure every day. Countless checkpoints. Manned watchtowers. Arbitrary arrests. Violent settlers. That is the every day actuality of apartheid, which dictates who can and can’t transfer freely. That is how Israel’s occupation operates, denying any vestige of autonomy to the occupied. That is the every day rhythm of Palestinian life.
In Gaza, the Israeli occupation controls most of what goes out and in. Its unlawful blockade has resulted within the mass hunger and displacement of Palestinians. As increasingly more folks have woken as much as the genocide in Gaza, Israel has additionally denied entry to UN investigators and worldwide journalists – a clear try and cease the world from discovering out the total extent of the warfare crimes it has dedicated. Don’t forget the 1000’s of Palestinian refugees, as effectively, who’re nonetheless denied the correct to return.
That is the true scandal. The Israeli authorities’s choice to ban me – and 10 different British MPs – from entry supplied however a tiny glimpse into the authoritarianism that Palestinians are topic to each single day.
I gained’t lose any sleep over being condemned by Israel. What I deplore is its despicable therapy of the Palestinian folks. What I deplore is Israel’s denial of freedom of motion to 1000’s of Palestinians every day. What I deplore is Israel’s denial of entry to UN investigators and journalists, shielding itself from accountability for the crimes of apartheid, occupation and genocide.
What this ban is actually about is stopping British MPs from visiting Gaza and the West Financial institution and stopping the world from seeing what is going on. The Israeli authorities’s choice tells us all we have to know. It tells us that Israel doesn’t need the world to know the reality. It tells us that Israel resorts to more and more absurd and determined measures because it loses assist throughout the globe. Above all, it tells us that we should always not hand over in our pursuit of fact, accountability and justice.
Israel made the choice to ban us in response to the federal government’s welcome choice to impose sanctions on unlawful settlement items. Worldwide legislation is obvious. In July 2024, the ICJ dominated that Israel’s presence within the Palestinian territories was illegal and imposed obligations on the UK to not assist or help the unlawful obligation. This ban on settlement items is lengthy overdue. It displays rising opposition to state-backed settler violence in opposition to Palestinians within the West. The hysteria from those that oppose it proves simply how a lot impunity Israel has loved to this point.
Finally, this choice is a primary step towards the federal government lastly fulfilling its authorized obligations. These obligations, nonetheless, transcend refraining from help to unlawful settlements. Any significant package deal of sanctions would recognise how “settlement items” are subsumed into Israel’s wider economic system. Which means ending all commerce and all types of assist that maintain Israel’s illegal presence as a complete.
I additionally re-iterate my demand for this authorities to recognise the genocide in Gaza, finish all navy coperation (together with the sale of F-35 parts and the efficiency of surveillance flights over Gaza) and heed my repeated requires a public inquiry into British complicity.
I’ve misplaced depend of the variety of demonstrations I’ve been on in solidarity with Palestine. At each, I carry the reminiscences of Palestine with me. I endeavour to cite at the least one Palestinian in any speech I give. In my thoughts, it’s essential to amplify the lived experiences of these enduring occupation, apartheid and genocide. It’s their freedom which is egregiously curtailed – and it’s their freedoms that we should defend. The Israeli authorities can ban me, however they’ll’t cease me from exposing the reality: they’ve been committing genocide and I’ll by no means cease campaigning till there’s justice for the Palestinian folks.
In our discussions of Palestine, we all the time emphasise the horror tales. However in my visits to Palestine, I’ve skilled the humanity, the music, the artwork, the poetry, the enjoyment and the resilience of the Palestinian folks. I’ve no real interest in being given a tour of apartheid by the Israeli authorities. I’m, nonetheless, unwavering in my willpower to marketing campaign for the one path to peace: the tip of the occupation. It has been a few years since I’ve visited Palestine. It doesn’t matter what Israel does to intimidate us into silence and despair, I’ve not given up hope that sooner or later, I’ll return to go to the kids I as soon as met – in a free and impartial Palestine.
The views expressed on this article are the writer’s personal and don’t essentially replicate Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
